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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — in sport
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. deal — to handle
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cold — an illness
  11. kid — to tease
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. net — after costs
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — of a river
  18. cold — not warm
  19. vault — a safe
  20. bank — for money
  21. pitch — completely
  22. kid — child
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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