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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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Word bank
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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: bear · ball · last · file · rush · foot · cold · mug

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. last — finally
  3. bear — the animal
  4. foot — a measure
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. last — to go on
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mug — a face
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ball — a dance
  11. last — final
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. mug — to rob
  14. file — a document
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. file — a tool
  19. ball — a great time
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mug — a cup
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. foot — the bottom

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