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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. root — of a plant
  3. shower — rain
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. shower — to wash
  8. clip — for paper
  9. prune — to trim
  10. root — the cause
  11. clip — a video
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. root — of a word
  15. season — in sport
  16. track — to keep track
  17. clip — to cut
  18. season — of the year
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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