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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 116 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. march — the month
  5. bound — certain
  6. bank — of a river
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. march — music
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bound — obliged
  12. kid — child
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — for money
  15. bound — tied together
  16. march — the month
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. fall — to drop
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. kid — to tease

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