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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 · cold · file · perch · wake · foot · fan · deal

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. cold — not warm
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. deal — to handle
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. perch — the fish
  13. wake — a trail
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. rule — government
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. rule — a law
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cold — an illness
  23. file — a document
  24. foot — part of the body

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