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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. scale — in music
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. rock — music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — to trim
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — an illness
  20. game — a match
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rock — a stone
  24. game — wild animals

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