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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. capital — money
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rock — music
  7. wake — a trail
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. chest — a box
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rock — a stone
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. sharp — clever
  21. capital — a city
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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