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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 120 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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bass — the fish
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. wake — a trail
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bass — low music
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. chest — a box
  15. pop — soda
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kick — in football
  19. pop — music
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bass — the instrument

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