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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. date — the fruit
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. face — to confront
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. shower — rain
  10. cap — a lid
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. shower — to wash
  13. net — after costs
  14. cap — a hat
  15. fall — to drop
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. face — to point toward
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. face — part of the head
  21. fall — the season
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. cap — of ice

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