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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 124 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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. key — in music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. file — a line of people
  7. clip — a video
  8. drill — army training
  9. file — a tool
  10. key — for a lock
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. clip — for paper
  13. drill — the tool
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. key — the most important part
  16. spell — letters
  17. kid — child
  18. file — a document
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spell — a short time
  23. clip — to cut
  24. drill — a practice

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