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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. fall — the season
  3. cap — a hat
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bat — the animal
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cap — a lid
  13. capital — a city
  14. kid — child
  15. fall — to drop
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. file — a tool
  18. capital — money
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cap — of ice
  24. file — a line of people

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