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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: bank · squash · plane · file · last · cold · content · tear

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. last — to go on
  4. bank — of a river
  5. file — a tool
  6. last — final
  7. content — the amount
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. content — happy
  10. squash — to crush
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — the sport
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. last — finally
  19. file — a document
  20. bank — for money
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bank — for money

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