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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — finally
  5. bore — to tire
  6. last — to go on
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. last — final
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bank — for money
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. bank — of a river
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. spring — the season
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bank — for money
  21. spring — of water
  22. cold — an illness
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cold — the Cold War

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