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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — tied together
  11. prune — to trim
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bound — certain
  18. wake — a trail
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. trunk — of a car

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