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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a ring
  3. season — of the year
  4. saw — the tool
  5. hand — in cards
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fine — all right
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. hand — help
  18. band — a music group
  19. chair — a leader
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. saw — the tool
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hand — part of the body

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