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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — of ice
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. scale — in music
  9. file — a tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mate — a partner
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — size or range
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. file — a document
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. bear — the animal
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cap — a lid
  24. tear — from crying

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