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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 120 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. file — a line of people
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. fine — all right
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. land — a country
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — ground
  12. file — a document
  13. row — to paddle
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. row — a line
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. fine — high quality
  23. land — to come down
  24. ruler — for measuring

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