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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. file — a line of people
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. squash — the sport
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bat — the animal
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — to sink
  13. pop — music
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pop — soda
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. row — to paddle
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bat — in an idiom

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