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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: court · kid · rule · rush · wind · ruler

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. 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. kid — to tease
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rule — a law
  14. rule — government
  15. wind — moving air
  16. court — of law
  17. kid — child
  18. 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