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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. pop — to visit
  4. bore — to tire
  5. net — after costs
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wound — an injury
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pop — music
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. tear — to rip
  15. net — in sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. prune — to trim
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. bore — to drill
  21. prune — to trim
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — for catching
  24. bay — a horse colour

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