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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fall · tube · cold · file · spring · game · stick · current

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. spring — the season
  4. tube — the underground
  5. spring — of water
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tube — a container
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. file — a line of people
  11. fall — to drop
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — electric
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. fall — the season
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. current — of water
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fall — to drop
  23. spring — a coil
  24. file — a document

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