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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. cold — an illness
  6. spell — letters
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. track — a path
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a song
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. row — a line
  16. spell — a short time
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — not warm
  19. shower — to wash
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. shower — rain
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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