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

Word bank: cold · file · chip · degree · cap · bank

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bank — for money
  4. file — a document
  5. bank — of a river
  6. degree — from a university
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chip — for betting
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cold — an illness
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bank — for money
  14. cap — a lid
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice

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