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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. last — to go on
  3. ball — a great time
  4. game — wild animals
  5. last — final
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. spell — letters
  10. wind — moving air
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. spell — a short time
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. game — a match
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. file — a tool
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wind — moving air
  21. spell — magic
  22. last — finally
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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