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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. net — after costs
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cell — a phone
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. net — for catching
  18. chest — a box
  19. cell — in biology
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — crushed
  23. net — in sport
  24. hide — to keep secret

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