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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: rash · bear · clip · march · bay · rest · band · rule

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. rule — a law
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. rest — a break
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — music
  9. rash — a series
  10. clip — a video
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. march — the month
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. rest — what's left
  16. march — the month
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — government

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