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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: craft · file · fall · chip · mark · date · cold · face

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. face — part of the head
  4. fall — to drop
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. mark — a grade
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. file — a tool
  9. craft — boats
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. file — a document
  12. chip — for betting
  13. face — to point toward
  14. chip — to eat
  15. mark — a trace
  16. craft — a skill
  17. cold — an illness
  18. date — the fruit
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fall — the season
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. face — to confront

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