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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. track — a path
  8. track — a song
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — soda
  12. tear — from crying
  13. track — to keep track
  14. row — a line
  15. tear — to rip
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. pop — music
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. row — to paddle
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. snap — to click
  24. pop — to visit

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