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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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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 · roll · file · pop · mark · kid · rule · clip

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. mark — a trace
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rule — a law
  5. roll — a cake
  6. file — a tool
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. clip — for paper
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pop — music
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. clip — a video
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. pop — soda
  17. rule — government
  18. mark — a grade
  19. clip — to cut
  20. kick — in football
  21. pop — to visit
  22. file — a document
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

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