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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: roll · tear · can · cold · file · squash · clip · rush

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. squash — the sport
  5. roll — a list
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. file — a line of people
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. tear — from crying
  11. file — a document
  12. can — to be able to
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. roll — a cake
  15. rush — hurry
  16. tear — to rip
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. cold — an illness
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. squash — to crush
  22. file — a tool
  23. tear — from crying
  24. rush — to hurry

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