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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. capital — money
  3. spell — a short time
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. craft — a skill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. bulb — for light
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — letters
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — hurry
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. capital — a city
  21. bat — the animal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. craft — boats

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