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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: land · key · file · band · court · bay · cold · leaves

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — to come down
  5. band — a music group
  6. file — a tool
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. band — a ring
  12. land — ground
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. file — a document
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — of law
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. land — a country
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in music

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