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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — in sport
  6. cold — not warm
  7. land — ground
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. file — a line of people
  10. mark — a grade
  11. land — a country
  12. game — wild animals
  13. spell — letters
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. file — a document
  17. spell — a short time
  18. land — to come down
  19. season — of the year
  20. spell — magic
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. mark — a trace
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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