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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. march — music
  4. capital — a city
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pit — a hole
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. sharp — clever
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. snap — to click
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. march — the month
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pit — in a race
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. foot — a measure
  23. cold — an illness
  24. sharp — with an edge

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