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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. present — there
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. net — for catching
  11. bore — to tire
  12. net — in sport
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. present — the time now
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — after costs

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