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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chest — of your body
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chest — of your body
  7. squash — to crush
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — shares
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. stock — goods
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. squash — the sport
  15. chest — a box
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. bat — the animal
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. leaves — to go away

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