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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. track — a path
  4. cap — a lid
  5. rock — music
  6. cap — a hat
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. face — to confront
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wound — an injury
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rock — a stone
  19. prune — to trim
  20. track — a song
  21. track — to keep track
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cap — of ice

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