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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. last — final
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. last — to go on
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. cue — a hint
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. march — music
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cue — a signal
  12. race — humankind
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cue — for pool
  15. march — the month
  16. field — for sport
  17. race — a contest
  18. lie — to recline
  19. pound — a weight
  20. last — finally
  21. march — the month
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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