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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · field · band · hide · rule · trunk · clip · squash

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. land — to come down
  5. band — a ring
  6. field — a subject
  7. squash — to crush
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — ground
  10. clip — to cut
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. rule — government
  14. clip — for paper
  15. land — a country
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. clip — a video
  21. field — farmland
  22. rule — a law
  23. field — for sport
  24. squash — the sport

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