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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: kid · mug · cabinet · cold · tear · file · march · root

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. file — a tool
  3. mug — to rob
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — not warm
  6. root — the cause
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. file — a line of people
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — an illness
  14. march — music
  15. kid — to tease
  16. root — of a plant
  17. kid — child
  18. root — of a word
  19. march — the month
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. mug — a face
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. mug — a cup

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