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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 124 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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Word bank
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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: clip · band · rule · bark · last · prune · arm · stock

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — to shout
  3. last — final
  4. rule — government
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. rule — a law
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. band — a ring
  16. stock — shares
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. stock — goods
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. last — finally

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