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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. ground — a position
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. track — to keep track
  17. stand — to bear
  18. cold — an illness
  19. track — a path
  20. track — a song
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. ground — the earth
  24. prune — to trim

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