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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — humankind
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spell — a short time
  7. saw — the tool
  8. track — a path
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. cold — not warm
  12. race — a contest
  13. track — to keep track
  14. spell — letters
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. spell — magic
  17. race — the arms race
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. wind — moving air
  24. track — a song

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