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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: arm · hide · coach · date · wound · tear · bay · mine

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. date — the fruit
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. tear — from crying
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. tear — to rip
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. tear — from crying
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wound — an injury

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