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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bay · fine · hand · date · spell · bat · file · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. hand — in cards
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. spell — a short time
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spell — magic
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. file — a document
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spell — letters
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fine — high quality
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. file — a tool
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. hand — help
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. fine — all right
  24. date — the fruit

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