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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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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: club · file · bulb · rash · track · capital · rule · saw

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. club — for golf
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. track — to keep track
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. rash — a series
  8. track — a path
  9. rule — government
  10. club — a group
  11. track — a song
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. capital — a city
  15. rule — a law
  16. bulb — for light
  17. capital — money
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. bulb — for light
  24. saw — the tool

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