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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. last — finally
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. hand — help
  9. capital — a city
  10. last — to go on
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. scale — size or range
  13. capital — money
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. last — final
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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