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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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Word bank
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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: rule · patient · fork · file · fall · snap

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. rule — a law
  5. snap — to click
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rule — government
  9. file — a tool
  10. fall — the season
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. file — a line of people
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. file — a document
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. fork — in a road

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