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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. swing — in golf
  7. face — to confront
  8. rash — a series
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. face — part of the head
  13. content — happy
  14. swing — to play on
  15. pass — a permit
  16. face — to point toward
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. swing — music

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