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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. game — a match
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. last — to go on
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cap — a lid
  9. track — a path
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cap — a hat
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a song
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. last — final
  16. cap — of ice
  17. last — finally
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. tube — a container
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. kid — child
  24. game — wild animals

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