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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: present · kid · spring · clip · fork · rule · date · hide

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. spring — the season
  3. present — there
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. rule — government
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — for paper
  8. present — a gift
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. kid — child
  12. present — the time now
  13. clip — a video
  14. rule — a law
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. date — the fruit
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. fork — in a road
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. kid — to tease
  23. spring — of water
  24. clip — to cut

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