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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: bay · clip · land · race · cold · toast · plane · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. land — ground
  5. toast — bread
  6. race — the arms race
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. plane — a tool
  9. land — a country
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. clip — for paper
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. race — humankind
  18. clip — to cut
  19. race — a contest
  20. land — to come down
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. clip — a video
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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