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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: cold · chair · rush · lash · bay · file · net · cap

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. net — in sport
  7. cap — a lid
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. cap — of ice
  11. file — a document
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rush — hurry
  14. cap — a hat
  15. net — for catching
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. net — after costs
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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