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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 116 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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. cold — an illness
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. court — for sport
  9. bear — the animal
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — in sport
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bear — the animal
  18. net — for catching
  19. court — of law
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. net — after costs
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. court — of a king
  24. fork — in a road

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