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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: rest · cap · mate · spring · file · bark · clip · pitch

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. file — a document
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bark — to shout
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spring — of water
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. spring — the season
  12. mate — to breed
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cap — a hat
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rest — a break
  24. file — a tool

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