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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: wound · kid · fork · bound · bear · file · rule · snap

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bound — certain
  4. bear — the animal
  5. file — a document
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rule — government
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. kid — to tease
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kid — child
  13. bound — tied together
  14. rule — a law
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bear — the animal
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. file — a tool
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. snap — to click
  23. fork — in a road
  24. file — a line of people

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