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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pitcher · bay · pop · fork · wound · mate · ball · cold

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. mate — to breed
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. pop — music
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. ball — a dance
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pop — soda

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