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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: cold · tube · file · arm · pound · mate · chair · spring

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  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. file — a document
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. file — a tool
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mate — to breed
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cold — an illness
  11. file — a line of people
  12. spring — of water
  13. tube — a container
  14. mate — a friend
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. spring — the season
  17. tube — the underground
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. pound — a weight
  23. mate — a partner
  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