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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — of water
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. land — to come down
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — a trace
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. row — a line
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. land — a country
  15. spring — the season
  16. land — ground
  17. bass — low music
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. row — to paddle
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. spring — a coil
  24. kick — with a leg

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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