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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. spring — of water
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. spring — a coil
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a document
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. date — the fruit
  12. net — after costs
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. net — in sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. cap — of ice
  19. net — for catching
  20. branch — a division
  21. spring — the season
  22. cap — a hat
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cap — a lid

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