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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hand — help
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. scale — in music
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chip — for betting
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. kid — child
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. scale — size or range
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. chip — to eat
  24. scale — for weighing

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