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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: arm · mark · mate · racket · cold · file · pop · lean

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cold — an illness
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. pop — soda
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. mark — a grade
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. lean — thin
  11. mate — a friend
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. lean — to bend
  14. mate — to breed
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. mate — a partner
  18. pop — to visit
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pop — music
  21. mark — a trace
  22. file — a document
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. lean — to rest against

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