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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. mate — to breed
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cell — a phone
  6. content — the amount
  7. mate — a partner
  8. rash — hasty
  9. content — happy
  10. drill — army training
  11. cell — in biology
  12. drill — the tool
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. chest — a box
  15. rash — a series
  16. mate — a friend
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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