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

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. last — to go on
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — for paper
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. face — to point toward
  14. last — finally
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitch — completely
  18. chair — a leader
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — a video
  22. last — final
  23. kid — to tease
  24. chair — a professorship

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