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

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — a weight
  6. fork — in a road
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. land — ground
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. land — to come down
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. land — a country

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