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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. file — a document
  3. fine — all right
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. cold — an illness
  7. root — the cause
  8. root — of a word
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cold — not warm
  12. file — a tool
  13. land — a country
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. rash — a series
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. land — ground
  18. lean — to bend
  19. root — of a plant
  20. land — to come down
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. file — a line of people

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