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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cap — of ice
  5. face — to point toward
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cap — a hat
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cap — a lid
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. can — a tin
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to confront
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. race — humankind
  21. game — a match
  22. can — to be able to
  23. can — a tin
  24. cold — not warm

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