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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: wax · pit · bear · bay · cold · file · ground · root

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bear — the animal
  7. pit — a hole
  8. root — of a plant
  9. pit — in a race
  10. file — a document
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. ground — crushed
  15. file — a line of people
  16. root — the cause
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. root — of a word
  23. file — a tool
  24. ground — a position

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