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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. hand — in cards
  4. net — after costs
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cap — of ice
  9. drill — the tool
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. drill — a practice
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. drill — army training
  19. net — for catching
  20. hand — help
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. net — in sport
  24. cap — a hat

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