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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 116 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pop — music
  3. mate — a partner
  4. game — a match
  5. bass — low music
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. tear — to rip
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pop — to visit
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. mate — a friend
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. pop — soda
  19. bass — the fish
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. capital — money
  24. mate — to breed

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