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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: file · snap · cold · band · bulb · clip · bay · mate

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. bulb — for light
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bulb — for light
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. snap — to click
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. file — a tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a ring
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mate — a friend
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — not warm
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. band — a music group

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