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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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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: rush · kid · ground · rule · file · scale · track · trunk

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. track — a song
  4. scale — size or range
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rule — a law
  7. track — a path
  8. kid — to tease
  9. ground — a position
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. ground — crushed
  13. file — a line of people
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. track — to keep track
  16. ground — the earth
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. file — a document
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rule — government
  22. scale — in music
  23. file — a tool
  24. kid — child

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