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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: bark · mug · wind · hide · mate · file · cold · ball

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mug — a face
  6. file — a document
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. mug — to rob
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mate — to breed
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wind — moving air
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bark — to shout
  23. mug — a cup
  24. cold — an illness

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