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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: file · cap · foot · root · cold · lash · clip · bat

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. clip — for paper
  3. file — a document
  4. cap — of ice
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cold — not warm
  13. root — the cause
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. clip — to cut
  17. foot — a measure
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cap — a lid
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. clip — a video
  24. bat — in an idiom

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