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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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. season — of the year
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cap — of ice
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chest — a box
  13. shower — rain
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — hurry
  17. cap — a lid
  18. season — in sport
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cap — a hat
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mine — belonging to me

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