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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. roll — a cake
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — not warm
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — after costs
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pit — in a race
  15. roll — a list
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. tear — from crying
  18. net — in sport
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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