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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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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: bay · cold · bass · mark · tear · fan · cue · pitcher

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bass — low music
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cue — a hint
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bass — the fish
  21. mark — a grade
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. mark — a trace

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