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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. season — in sport
  12. chair — a leader
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — of the year
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. ruler — for measuring

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