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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. court — for sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — not warm
  9. band — a ring
  10. court — of a king
  11. land — to come down
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bank — for money
  16. spring — the season
  17. bank — of a river
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bank — for money
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bat — the animal

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