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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: row · season · prune · band · lie · vault · rule · straw

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. rule — government
  3. season — in sport
  4. band — a music group
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. band — a ring
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. lie — to recline
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. season — of the year
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. prune — to trim
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. vault — a safe
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rule — a law
  24. straw — a straw man

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