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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. game — wild animals
  5. tube — the underground
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — the fruit
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. ball — a dance
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. ball — a great time
  14. wind — moving air
  15. tube — a container
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bass — the fish
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. bass — low music
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. game — a match
  24. cold — the Cold War

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