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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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. track — a song
  4. prune — to trim
  5. club — for golf
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. track — to keep track
  13. fall — to drop
  14. track — a path
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. club — for dancing
  17. prune — to trim
  18. fall — the season
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — happy
  23. club — a group
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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