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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — the sport
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chip — for betting
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. spell — letters
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. wake — a trail
  21. shower — rain
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chip — to eat
  24. cold — an illness

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