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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  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. sharp — exactly
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. toast — bread
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. sharp — clever
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. clip — a video
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. clip — for paper
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  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