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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. cold — an illness
  6. shower — rain
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. cell — a phone
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cell — in biology
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. squash — the vegetable

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