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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: file · bulb · fall · foot · row · cold · object · cell

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fall — the season
  7. row — to paddle
  8. foot — a measure
  9. file — a tool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. row — a line
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. object — an aim
  17. fall — to drop
  18. file — a line of people
  19. object — a thing
  20. cell — in biology
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. file — a document
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cold — an illness

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