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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. can — to be able to
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cold — an illness
  6. root — of a plant
  7. can — a tin
  8. root — the cause
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. last — to go on
  11. can — a tin
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. root — of a word
  14. last — finally
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — final
  18. bat — the animal

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