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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 · bound · last · spring · trunk · rest · pitch · rush

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. bound — certain
  3. rush — hurry
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bound — obliged
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bound — tied together
  9. last — final
  10. rest — a break
  11. spring — the season
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pitch — completely
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rest — what's left
  18. last — to go on
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. last — finally
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — of water

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