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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: pit · toast · capital · file · cold · scale · lash · tube

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pit — a hole
  3. file — a tool
  4. capital — money
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — in music
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. file — a document
  13. tube — the underground
  14. pit — in a race
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — not warm
  20. tube — a container
  21. file — a line of people
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. scale — size or range
  24. cold — the Cold War

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