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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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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: march · snap · bay · rest · file · cap · toast · wind

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. cap — a lid
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. toast — bread
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. rest — what's left
  12. march — the month
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cap — a hat
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. file — a document
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. cap — of ice
  24. rest — a break

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