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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: bore · fork · chair · clip · swing · rule · pound · last

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. last — final
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. chair — a leader
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. rule — government
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. pound — a weight
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. swing — music
  19. rule — a law
  20. swing — in golf
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. bore — to drill
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. bore — to tire

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