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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. club — for dancing
  4. chest — of your body
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chest — of your body
  8. field — for sport
  9. capital — a city
  10. sharp — clever
  11. field — a subject
  12. club — for golf
  13. field — farmland
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. scale — in music
  18. club — a group
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. capital — money
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. sharp — exactly

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