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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · perch · rule · bark · hand · file · kick · tube

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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 — a law
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tube — a container
  5. perch — the fish
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. file — a line of people
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. file — a tool
  13. hand — help
  14. clip — a video
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. hand — in cards
  17. file — a document
  18. rule — government
  19. bark — to shout
  20. clip — for paper
  21. tube — the underground
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. kick — in football
  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