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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: file · last · tear · cap · cold · bowl

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. last — to go on
  4. cap — a hat
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cap — a lid
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cap — of ice
  12. last — final
  13. last — finally
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tear — from crying
  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