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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. row — a line
  7. saw — the tool
  8. face — to confront
  9. row — to paddle
  10. game — a match
  11. march — the month
  12. face — part of the head
  13. march — music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. face — to point toward
  20. march — the month
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. pit — a hole
  23. game — wild animals
  24. saw — the tool

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