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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 116 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. cell — in biology
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — a coil
  9. march — music
  10. spring — the season
  11. content — happy
  12. spring — of water
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. key — in music
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. march — the month
  20. key — the most important part
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. key — for a lock

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