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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. scale — in music
  4. chip — to eat
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. craft — a skill
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. tear — to rip
  11. craft — boats
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. chip — for betting
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. stand — to bear
  16. scale — size or range
  17. row — a line
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. kid — child
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. row — to paddle

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