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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 120 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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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: swing · sharp · kick · file · dip · wake · track · cold

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. dip — to sink
  9. swing — to play on
  10. track — to keep track
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. kick — in football
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. track — a path
  15. cold — an illness
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. sharp — clever
  19. wake — a trail
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. swing — music
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. swing — in golf
  24. track — a song

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