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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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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. bark — to shout
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mug — to rob
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mug — a cup
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. mug — a face
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. spell — letters
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. spell — magic
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. leaves — lets stay

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