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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: spring · game · wake · rule · snap · file · drill · rest

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. rule — government
  3. rest — a break
  4. spring — a coil
  5. snap — to click
  6. rule — a law
  7. drill — army training
  8. rest — what's left
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. file — a document
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spring — the season
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spring — of water
  18. file — a tool
  19. wake — a trail
  20. drill — a practice
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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