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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: kick · rash · file · clip · rest · capital · rule · bark

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. rash — a series
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. rash — hasty
  5. clip — to cut
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rule — government
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rule — a law
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bark — to shout
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. clip — a video
  17. rest — a break
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. file — a tool
  22. capital — money
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kick — in football

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