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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: cold · stem · lie · rule · last · clip · plane · cue

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. last — finally
  3. rule — government
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — a video
  6. lie — to recline
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. last — final
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stem — to come from
  14. last — to go on
  15. plane — a tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. rule — a law
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. cue — for pool
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cue — a hint
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stem — a stem cell

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