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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. fall — to drop
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. land — ground
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. file — a tool
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. file — a document
  11. row — a line
  12. present — a gift
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. land — a country
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. present — the time now
  17. band — a music group
  18. fall — to drop
  19. present — there
  20. fall — the season
  21. row — to paddle
  22. file — a line of people
  23. band — a ring
  24. land — to come down

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