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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. wake — a trail
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. spell — letters
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. tear — from crying
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. spell — magic
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. chest — a box
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. spring — a coil

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