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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 · last · pound · cell · clip · cue · bulb · rule

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cue — a hint
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. rule — a law
  9. cell — in biology
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. cue — for pool
  13. band — a music group
  14. bulb — for light
  15. last — to go on
  16. cell — a phone
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rule — government
  20. cue — a signal
  21. last — finally
  22. band — a ring
  23. last — final
  24. clip — a video

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