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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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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: stand · clip · land · court · last · club · hand · rule

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rule — government
  4. land — ground
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. land — to come down
  7. clip — a video
  8. court — of a king
  9. hand — help
  10. last — to go on
  11. court — for sport
  12. stand — to bear
  13. land — a country
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. club — for golf
  16. hand — in cards
  17. club — a group
  18. court — of law
  19. last — final
  20. rule — a law
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. club — for dancing
  24. clip — for paper

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