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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 116 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: file · chair · wind · pit · bay · sharp · key · squash

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. file — a tool
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. key — for a lock
  8. file — a line of people
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. squash — to crush
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. key — in music
  15. wind — moving air
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. file — a document
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pit — in a race
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — clever
  22. squash — the sport
  23. key — the most important part
  24. wind — to turn a key

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