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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: spring · chair · cap · track · file · face · dip · tear

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. cap — of ice
  3. file — a line of people
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — a hat
  6. face — to confront
  7. spring — of water
  8. dip — to sink
  9. cap — a lid
  10. file — a document
  11. chair — a leader
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. face — part of the head
  16. file — a tool
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. face — to point toward
  20. spring — the season
  21. track — to keep track
  22. spring — a coil
  23. track — a song
  24. tear — to rip

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