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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. file — a tool
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pop — soda
  13. wax — to grow
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pop — music
  16. fork — in a road
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. pop — to visit
  22. season — in sport
  23. file — a document
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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