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

Word bank: toast · cold · spell · date · wake · wound · bay · cap

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. spell — letters
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. toast — bread
  9. date — the fruit
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. cap — of ice
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. spell — magic
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cold — the Cold War

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