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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. tube — a container
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. kid — child
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. game — wild animals
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. tube — the underground
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. rule — a law
  18. game — a match
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. stem — to come from
  24. game — a kind of play

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