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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: season · squash · cold · fan · tear · file · content · cap

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. content — the amount
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cold — not warm
  10. content — happy
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a tool
  14. tear — from crying
  15. squash — the sport
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. season — in sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a document
  23. cap — a lid
  24. season — of the year

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