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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 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. last — final
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. last — finally
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — of ice
  17. pitch — completely
  18. tear — from crying
  19. last — to go on
  20. file — a tool
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bowl — a football final

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