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

Word bank: cold · court · hide · branch · rest · snap · bay · file

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. snap — to click
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. court — of a king
  12. file — a line of people
  13. court — for sport
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cold — not warm
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. branch — a division
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. hide — to keep secret

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