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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: file · bulb · stock · lean · clip · wave · pit · cold

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bulb — for light
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lean — thin
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pit — in a race
  10. clip — a video
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. file — a tool
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — an illness
  20. file — a document
  21. bulb — for light
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. pit — a hole
  24. lean — to bend

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