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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: bound · cell · clip · bat · fork · date · rule · pop

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in biology
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bound — obliged
  11. rule — a law
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. pop — music
  16. fork — in a road
  17. date — the fruit
  18. rule — government
  19. clip — a video
  20. bound — tied together
  21. cell — a phone
  22. pop — soda
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bat — in an idiom

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