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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cold — not warm
  12. court — of a king
  13. bass — low music
  14. file — a document
  15. bass — the fish
  16. court — of law
  17. file — a tool
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. file — a line of people
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. court — for sport

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