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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: clip · rash · band · mine · fork · rule · last · craft

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rash — a series
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. craft — a skill
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — for digging
  13. last — finally
  14. rule — government
  15. clip — to cut
  16. band — a ring
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. last — final
  20. band — a music group
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. last — to go on
  23. clip — a video
  24. craft — boats

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