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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. date — the fruit
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cold — an illness
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. swing — music
  17. ball — a great time
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. ball — a dance
  20. swing — to play on
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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