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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: pit · cold · game · file · can · wave · lie · prune

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pit — a hole
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pit — in a race
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. can — to be able to
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. game — a match
  11. game — wild animals
  12. file — a document
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. prune — to trim
  15. lie — to recline
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cold — the Cold War

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