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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: mate · rock · lean · cold · land · foot · last · file

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lean — thin
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. rock — music
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. mate — a partner
  9. land — a country
  10. file — a document
  11. last — final
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — finally
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. land — ground
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mate — a friend
  19. rock — a stone
  20. lean — to bend
  21. last — to go on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. foot — a measure
  24. rock — to move gently

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