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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. row — to paddle
  6. face — to confront
  7. prune — to trim
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. stand — to bear
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. court — of law
  17. face — part of the head
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bass — low music
  21. row — a line
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cold — the Cold War

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