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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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. chest — of your body
  3. hand — help
  4. ground — a position
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. chest — of your body
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ground — the earth
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bore — to tire
  12. spell — a short time
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. chest — a box
  16. bore — to drill
  17. hand — in cards
  18. spell — letters
  19. ground — crushed
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. spell — magic
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. straw — a straw man

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