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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 120 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: rule · mouse · file · straw · cell · kick · bound · kid

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. cell — a phone
  3. rule — a law
  4. kick — in football
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. rule — government
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. file — a document
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bound — tied together
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — certain
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. file — a tool
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. kid — to tease
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — in biology

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