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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — a hole
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. drill — army training
  9. tear — from crying
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. pit — in a race
  12. file — a tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. drill — the tool
  17. fine — all right
  18. fine — high quality
  19. craft — a skill
  20. file — a document
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. craft — boats
  23. tear — to rip
  24. file — a line of people

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