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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. march — the month
  11. charge — a price
  12. charge — electricity
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in biology
  15. charge — in control
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. march — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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