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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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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: rule · foot · dip · capital · staff · cold · file · cell

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. cold — not warm
  5. staff — employees
  6. file — a tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. staff — employees
  9. rule — a law
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. capital — a city
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cell — in biology
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. dip — to sink
  16. rule — government
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. foot — a measure
  22. staff — a stick
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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