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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 120 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cue — a hint
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cue — a signal
  6. scale — in music
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cue — for pool
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rest — a break
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. rest — what's left
  19. hand — help
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. scale — for weighing

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