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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pit — a hole
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. game — wild animals
  9. spring — of water
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. rule — a law
  12. spring — the season
  13. pit — in a race
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. row — to paddle
  16. spring — a coil
  17. game — a match
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. row — a line
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — the tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. rule — government

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