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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. tube — the underground
  6. fall — to drop
  7. present — there
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fall — the season
  14. tube — a container
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — completely
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. present — a gift
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tear — from crying

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