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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.

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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: file · nail · bowl · ball · land · wind · cold · bay

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. file — a line of people
  3. land — a country
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. land — ground
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. wind — moving air
  17. file — a document
  18. ball — a great time
  19. land — to come down
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ball — a dance
  24. wind — moving air

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