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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: root · date · cold · file · wind · clip · mouse · deal

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. root — of a word
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. root — of a plant
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. wind — moving air
  14. date — the fruit
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. file — a tool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. root — the cause
  23. file — a document
  24. deal — to handle

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