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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: rule · cold · clip · file · vault · patient · season · fork

  1. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. rule — government
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. rule — a law
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. fork — in a road
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. file — a tool
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — not warm
  14. file — a line of people
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. season — in sport
  19. vault — a safe
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. file — a document

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