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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. stand — to bear
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. can — a tin
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. can — a tin
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — not warm
  18. can — to be able to

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