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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 116 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: chair · rest · file · ruler · cold · rule · fan · trunk

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a tool
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rule — a law
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rest — what's left
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. rule — government
  20. file — a document
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cold — not warm

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