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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 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — of ice
  5. clip — for paper
  6. file — a line of people
  7. can — to be able to
  8. content — the amount
  9. bank — for money
  10. cold — an illness
  11. content — happy
  12. can — a tin
  13. can — a tin
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. clip — a video
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bank — for money
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pound — a weight
  21. bank — of a river
  22. clip — to cut
  23. file — a tool
  24. content — videos and posts

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