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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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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: spell · file · row · rule · club · kid

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. file — a tool
  3. club — for dancing
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spell — a short time
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. rule — a law
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. file — a document
  13. row — to paddle
  14. spell — magic
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. row — a line
  17. kid — child
  18. spell — letters

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