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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. squash — the sport
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. squash — to crush
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. game — a match
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kid — child
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. rush — hurry
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. snap — to click
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. mine — for digging
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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