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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mine — for digging
  13. hand — in cards
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. stand — to bear
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. scale — size or range
  19. hand — help
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. scale — in music
  24. pitcher — a jug

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