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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — the earth
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. drill — the tool
  7. roll — a cake
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. drill — army training
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. drill — a practice
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. roll — a list
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stem — to come from
  19. kid — to tease
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. wave — with your hand

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