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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. present — there
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — an illness
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. band — a ring
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. present — a gift
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. board — a committee
  18. band — a music group
  19. stem — to come from
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. march — music
  22. present — the time now
  23. fork — in a road
  24. board — to get on

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