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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spell · cold · file · mine · cabinet · foot · pit · straw

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. spell — a short time
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a document
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. foot — a measure
  12. spell — letters
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pit — a hole
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. spell — magic
  22. pit — in a race
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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