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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. prune — to trim
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. lie — to recline
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — goods
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. branch — a division
  17. stock — shares
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. chest — a box
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. sharp — clever
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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