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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mug — a face
  7. rest — what's left
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mug — a cup
  11. file — a document
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. present — there
  16. present — a gift
  17. rest — a break
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. file — a tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. game — a match
  22. file — a line of people
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. present — the time now

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