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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: racket · file · tear · kid · mouse · rule

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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 — to tease
  2. file — a tool
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rule — government
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. file — a line of people
  15. rule — a law
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. kid — child
  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