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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: rule · clip · sharp · date · bound · drill · roll · cell

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rule — government
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — certain
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. drill — army training
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. drill — a practice
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. roll — a list
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cell — a phone
  20. rule — a law
  21. roll — a cake
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. date — the fruit

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