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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: cell · bulb · cold · clip · rash · ruler · fall · file

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cell — a phone
  10. rash — hasty
  11. file — a tool
  12. clip — a video
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a document
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fall — the season
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. fall — to drop
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cold — not warm

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