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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 120 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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. file — a line of people
  4. capital — a city
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. chair — a leader
  7. band — a ring
  8. land — a country
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. band — a music group
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. rash — hasty
  19. file — a document
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. capital — money
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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