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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chest — of your body
  5. root — of a word
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. sharp — clever
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — a box
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. spring — of water
  15. chest — of your body
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. spring — a coil
  18. root — of a plant
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. root — the cause
  23. spring — the season
  24. sharp — exactly

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