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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 sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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. staff — employees
  3. drill — a practice
  4. chair — a leader
  5. drill — army training
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wake — a trail
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wind — moving air
  14. staff — a stick
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. staff — employees
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. file — a document
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. file — a line of people
  24. drill — the tool

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