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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: land · bulb · file · stick · hand · rule · last · hide

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. rule — government
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. land — a country
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. hand — help
  10. last — finally
  11. bulb — for light
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hand — in cards
  14. land — ground
  15. bulb — for light
  16. file — a document
  17. rule — a law
  18. land — to come down
  19. file — a line of people
  20. last — to go on
  21. file — a tool
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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