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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. last — final
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. file — a document
  6. net — after costs
  7. last — to go on
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cap — a hat
  11. net — for catching
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cap — a lid
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. last — finally
  19. sharp — clever
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — in sport
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. mouse — for a computer

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