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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 116 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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. tube — the underground
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tube — a container
  6. clip — for paper
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. clip — a video
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bark — to shout
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. sharp — clever
  16. bulb — for light
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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