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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. stem — to come from
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. shower — rain
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. land — a country
  9. cold — an illness
  10. land — to come down
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. game — a match
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. land — ground

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