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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: perch · file · court · content · cap · roll · dip · cold

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. dip — to sink
  5. court — of a king
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. content — happy
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — for sport
  11. cap — a lid
  12. file — a tool
  13. roll — a cake
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — the amount
  16. roll — a list
  17. file — a line of people
  18. court — of law
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cap — a hat
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. cap — of ice

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