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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · saw · bulb · clip · wind · last · bore · club

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. rule — government
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. last — to go on
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. club — a group
  16. clip — a video
  17. club — for golf
  18. rule — a law
  19. club — for dancing
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bulb — for light
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bulb — for light

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com