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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: rule · last · trunk · fall · hide · file · hand · race

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. hide — to keep secret
  2. race — the arms race
  3. hand — in cards
  4. last — to go on
  5. race — a contest
  6. fall — to drop
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rule — government
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. last — finally
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. fall — the season
  16. race — humankind
  17. last — final
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rule — a law
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. file — a document
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. hand — help
  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