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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 116 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 · march · staff · cold · cell · band · pit · nail

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. march — the month
  3. file — a tool
  4. march — music
  5. staff — a stick
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. band — a music group
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. file — a document
  11. staff — employees
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pit — in a race
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. march — the month
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pit — a hole
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. band — a ring
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cell — a phone
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. staff — employees

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