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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. face — part of the head
  7. ground — a position
  8. face — to confront
  9. row — to paddle
  10. season — of the year
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. face — to point toward
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. season — in sport
  15. ground — the earth
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. ground — crushed
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. row — a line
  23. wax — to grow
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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