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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · mate · tear · file · bay · cold

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mate — a partner
  8. mate — a friend
  9. file — a tool
  10. cell — in biology
  11. file — a line of people
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. cold — an illness
  16. file — a document
  17. mate — to breed
  18. 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