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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wake — a trail
  4. content — the amount
  5. tear — from crying
  6. file — a tool
  7. mate — a friend
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. file — a line of people
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mate — a partner
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mate — to breed
  20. content — happy
  21. wind — moving air
  22. tear — from crying
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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