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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: perch · snap · rule · date · tear · file

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. file — a line of people
  5. tear — from crying
  6. file — a tool
  7. date — the fruit
  8. file — a document
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. snap — to click
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — a law
  15. tear — to rip
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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