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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
468
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: fine · cold · file · spring · pit · tube · bear · jam

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — the season
  6. file — a document
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. pit — in a race
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. spring — of water
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spring — a coil
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — a container
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. bear — the animal
  24. tube — the underground

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