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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: band · cell · rule · march · straw · bore · mate · spell

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. cell — in biology
  4. band — a ring
  5. mate — a partner
  6. march — music
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. spell — magic
  9. cell — a phone
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bore — to tire
  14. mate — to breed
  15. march — the month
  16. rule — a law
  17. spell — letters
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. march — the month
  21. spell — a short time
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. rule — government
  24. bore — to drill

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