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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 water is too ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. ball — a dance
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. pop — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. pop — to visit
  14. chest — a box
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pop — soda
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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