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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: hide · bay · mate · cold · march · row · spell · fall

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. spell — magic
  8. march — the month
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. fall — the season
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. fall — to drop
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. row — a line
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. spell — letters
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. spell — a short time

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