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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — not warm
  7. object — a thing
  8. object — an aim
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. drill — a practice
  17. object — to protest
  18. drill — the tool
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. drill — army training
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hand — in cards

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