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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. swing — in golf
  7. mug — a face
  8. land — to come down
  9. mug — a cup
  10. land — a country
  11. swing — music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. land — ground
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. scale — in music
  17. last — finally
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. swing — to play on
  20. last — to go on
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — size or range
  23. mug — to rob
  24. last — final

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