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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. spring — the season
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pit — in a race
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. clip — for paper
  10. spell — magic
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. clip — a video
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. spell — letters
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — to cut
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. pit — a hole
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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