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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 · tear · hand · date · drill · file · cap · sharp

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. file — a document
  3. drill — a practice
  4. hand — help
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — a lid
  9. drill — army training
  10. file — a line of people
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. drill — the tool
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. season — in sport
  15. sharp — clever
  16. date — the fruit
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. season — of the year
  22. tear — to rip
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. file — a tool

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