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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. march — music
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. fine — all right
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — a country
  10. march — the month
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. game — a match
  18. land — ground
  19. file — a tool
  20. game — wild animals
  21. land — to come down
  22. march — the month
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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