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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — hasty
  5. scale — size or range
  6. tube — the underground
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. kid — child
  12. tube — a container
  13. kid — to tease
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — not warm
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rush — hurry
  18. scale — in music
  19. capital — a city
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rash — on the skin
  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