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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. last — finally
  4. fall — the season
  5. rash — hasty
  6. land — ground
  7. race — humankind
  8. mate — a partner
  9. last — to go on
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. mate — to breed
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rash — a series
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mate — a friend
  20. last — final
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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