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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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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: cabinet · jam · clip · bank · cold · field · lie · file

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. field — farmland
  3. bank — for money
  4. lie — to recline
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. file — a tool
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. file — a document
  10. field — a subject
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — for paper
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bank — of a river
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. bank — for money
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — not warm

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