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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. date — the fruit
  3. tear — from crying
  4. saw — the tool
  5. court — for sport
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tear — to rip
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. pit — in a race
  12. court — of law
  13. band — a music group
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. saw — the tool
  18. tear — from crying
  19. band — a ring
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. court — of a king
  24. date — on the calendar

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