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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: file · rush · cold · bark · wave · swing · date · dip

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. rush — hurry
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. file — a line of people
  9. swing — to play on
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. cold — not warm
  12. file — a tool
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. swing — music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. date — the fruit
  20. swing — in golf
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. file — a document
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wave — of the sea

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