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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: present · fall · rash · pop · cold · rule · file · trunk

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. file — a tool
  4. pop — soda
  5. present — the time now
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. fall — to drop
  9. present — there
  10. rash — hasty
  11. pop — music
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. cold — an illness
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. rash — a series
  17. pop — to visit
  18. present — a gift
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rule — government
  21. fall — the season
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. trunk — of a tree

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