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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: pit · march · clip · cue · band · rule · face · court

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. march — the month
  3. cue — for pool
  4. face — to confront
  5. march — the month
  6. band — a music group
  7. march — music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pit — a hole
  10. cue — a signal
  11. face — part of the head
  12. court — for sport
  13. rule — a law
  14. pit — in a race
  15. rule — government
  16. court — of a king
  17. clip — a video
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cue — a hint
  21. clip — to cut
  22. band — a ring
  23. court — of law
  24. band — a rubber band

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