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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: march · pit · bay · date · pitcher · file · wake · cold

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. pit — a hole
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. file — a tool
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pit — in a race
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. wake — a trail
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — an illness
  24. march — 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