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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. track — a path
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rash — hasty
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — from a university
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. degree — temperature
  13. track — to keep track
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. deal — to handle
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. mate — a partner
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. track — a song
  20. degree — an amount
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. mate — to breed
  24. rash — a series

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