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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. tube — a container
  10. ball — a great time
  11. ground — a position
  12. charge — a price
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ball — a dance
  16. charge — in control
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. tube — the underground
  22. fork — in a road
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. charge — electricity

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