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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: file · land · bark · last · dip · rule · prune · fan

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a line of people
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rule — government
  7. bark — to shout
  8. land — a country
  9. last — to go on
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. last — finally
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. file — a document
  15. land — to come down
  16. last — final
  17. land — ground
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rule — a law
  22. dip — to sink
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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