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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rush — hurry
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. perch — the fish
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bore — to drill
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — gave birth

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