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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. staff — a stick
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. kid — child
  5. date — the fruit
  6. saw — the tool
  7. last — finally
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. staff — employees
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — farmland
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. last — final
  18. field — for sport
  19. staff — employees
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. field — a subject
  23. last — to go on
  24. date — on the calendar

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