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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · bay · cold · race · lie · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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 — not warm
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. land — to come down
  6. race — humankind
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. land — ground
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. land — a country
  15. race — a contest
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. race — the arms race

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