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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mate — a partner
  3. row — to paddle
  4. ground — crushed
  5. can — to be able to
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. mate — a friend
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. clip — a video
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. ground — the earth
  15. clip — for paper
  16. can — a tin
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. can — a tin
  21. row — a line
  22. ground — a position
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. clip — to cut

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