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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: net · straw · rush · craft · rule · pitcher · clip · last

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. net — after costs
  3. clip — a video
  4. craft — a skill
  5. clip — for paper
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. clip — to cut
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. net — for catching
  13. rush — hurry
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. rule — government
  16. last — final
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — in sport
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. last — finally
  22. craft — boats
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rule — a law

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