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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 120 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: land · nail · pit · bay · cold · cue · bat · mark

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cue — a hint
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. land — ground
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — in a race
  10. cue — for pool
  11. mark — a grade
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cue — a signal
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. cold — an illness
  19. land — to come down
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. cold — not warm
  24. land — a country

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