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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 124 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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fine — high quality
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fine — all right
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mate — to breed
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bear — the animal
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. bat — in an idiom

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