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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. bass — low music
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chip — to eat
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bass — the fish
  13. court — of law
  14. staff — employees
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. staff — employees
  17. chip — for betting
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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