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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cap — of ice
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. drill — a practice
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. last — final
  9. cap — a hat
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. last — finally
  13. drill — army training
  14. cold — an illness
  15. craft — boats
  16. last — to go on
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — a lid
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. craft — a handicraft

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