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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: plane · clip · tear · rule · lean · file

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. clip — for paper
  4. tear — from crying
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. lean — thin
  9. lean — to bend
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. clip — a video
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. clip — to cut
  16. file — a document
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — a law

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