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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. land — a country
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — music
  12. land — to come down
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — to shout
  17. field — for sport
  18. pop — soda
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. land — ground
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. wake — a trail

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