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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: hand · court · fall · clip · rule · capital · rush · ruler

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. fall — the season
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fall — to drop
  8. hand — help
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. capital — money
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. court — of a king
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rule — government
  17. hand — in cards
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. fall — to drop
  20. capital — a city
  21. rule — a law
  22. court — of law
  23. court — for sport
  24. ruler — for measuring

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