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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — crushed
  3. track — a path
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. kid — to tease
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bear — the animal
  16. ground — a position
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cap — a lid
  19. last — final
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. kid — child
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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