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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cold — not warm
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. content — the amount
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bank — for money
  10. pitch — completely
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. kid — to tease
  14. race — the arms race
  15. content — happy
  16. key — for a lock
  17. kid — child
  18. bank — for money
  19. key — in music
  20. race — humankind
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. race — a contest
  24. key — the most important part

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