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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. drill — a practice
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. swing — in golf
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a tool
  9. drill — army training
  10. file — a document
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. file — a line of people
  13. drill — the tool
  14. tear — from crying
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. tear — to rip
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  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