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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: bay · rest · rash · trunk · drill · leaves · cold · wind

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. rest — a break
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. drill — the tool
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — not warm
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. drill — army training
  16. cold — an illness
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. drill — a practice
  20. rash — a series
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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