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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rule · clip · tube · arm · land · date · bowl · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. land — ground
  3. tube — a container
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. tube — the underground
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. land — a country
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. rule — a law
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. spell — magic
  17. clip — a video
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. land — to come down
  21. rule — government
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. date — the fruit
  24. spell — a short time

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