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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 116 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: kick · mine · file · kid · rule · bark

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. mine — for digging
  8. kick — in football
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. file — a tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bark — to shout
  15. rule — a law
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. rule — government
  18. file — a document

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