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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: wind · bay · pop · pit · file · drill · roll · ball

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. pop — music
  5. pit — in a race
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — moving air
  9. drill — the tool
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. pit — a hole
  13. roll — a cake
  14. pop — to visit
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pop — soda
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. drill — a practice
  23. roll — a list
  24. drill — army training

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