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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: bark · file · rule · race · board · stem · fan · land

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. land — a country
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. race — a contest
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. race — the arms race
  9. land — to come down
  10. file — a line of people
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. race — humankind
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. file — a tool
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rule — government
  19. board — to get on
  20. file — a document
  21. board — a committee
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. land — ground
  24. stem — a stem cell

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