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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. saw — the tool
  3. ball — a dance
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. tube — the underground
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a great time
  8. cold — an illness
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. season — of the year
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. cold — not warm
  19. last — finally
  20. season — in sport
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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