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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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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: cabinet · capital · rule · bark · lash · clip · row · rest

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. clip — a video
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. bark — to shout
  7. capital — money
  8. row — a line
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rest — a break
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. rest — what's left
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. rest — what's left
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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