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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: mine · wax · stand · bowl · fall · content · file · rule

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. content — happy
  3. stand — to bear
  4. fall — to drop
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. rule — government
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wax — to grow
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. content — the amount
  22. fall — the season
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. file — a tool

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