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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. pitch — completely
  5. file — a line of people
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. file — a document
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. march — music
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. tear — to rip
  16. drill — army training
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. drill — the tool
  24. temple — side of the head

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