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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. track — a song
  3. fall — the season
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. track — a path
  7. track — to keep track
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — to breed
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. mate — a friend
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fall — to drop
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. shower — rain
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — to shout
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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