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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: cold · charge · file · net · tear · present · band · bear

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. present — there
  3. charge — a price
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. present — a gift
  10. net — in sport
  11. file — a line of people
  12. charge — in control
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. cold — an illness
  16. charge — electricity
  17. band — a ring
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — for catching
  20. tear — to rip
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bear — the animal
  24. present — the time now

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