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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. face — to point toward
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. saw — the tool
  10. pitch — completely
  11. face — to confront
  12. bore — to drill
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — clever
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. saw — the tool
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. face — part of the head
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. bore — to tire

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