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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. rash — a series
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. shower — rain
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. kid — child
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cold — not warm
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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