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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fall — to drop
  3. march — music
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. fall — the season
  6. date — the fruit
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — a city
  9. game — a match
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. capital — money
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. march — the month
  18. fall — to drop
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. game — wild animals
  24. march — the month

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