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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. prune — to trim
  7. sharp — clever
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — an illness
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pitch — completely
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. last — finally
  22. last — final
  23. last — to go on
  24. trunk — of a tree

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