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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: nail · cold · date · lean · content · file · leaves · pit

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. file — a document
  3. pit — a hole
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. content — happy
  8. file — a line of people
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. content — the amount
  14. cold — an illness
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. date — the fruit
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pit — in a race
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. content — videos and posts

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