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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 120 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. file — a tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. face — to confront
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. face — to point toward
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. file — a line of people
  23. face — part of the head
  24. racket — for tennis

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