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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cap — of ice
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. cap — a lid
  7. content — happy
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bat — the animal
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. content — the amount
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bat — for baseball

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