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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. tube — the underground
  3. rash — a series
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tube — a container
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. rash — hasty
  9. file — a tool
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. rush — hurry
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. mine — for digging
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. file — a document
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mine — an explosive

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