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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. cold — not warm
  3. staff — a stick
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a line of people
  9. march — the month
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. ball — a dance
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. staff — employees
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. staff — employees
  20. wound — an injury
  21. march — music
  22. ball — a great time
  23. file — a tool
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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