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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. last — finally
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — rain
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pit — a hole
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. last — final
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — in a race
  16. roll — a list
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. last — to go on
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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