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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cap — a hat
  5. suit — clothes
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. field — farmland
  8. spell — magic
  9. wind — moving air
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. field — for sport
  13. hand — help
  14. clip — a video
  15. suit — in cards
  16. clip — for paper
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — in cards
  21. suit — to fit
  22. spell — letters
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — of ice

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