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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. net — for catching
  3. date — the fruit
  4. race — humankind
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. net — in sport
  7. ball — a great time
  8. race — a contest
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — music
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. swing — in golf
  13. mine — for digging
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pop — soda
  17. race — the arms race
  18. ball — a dance
  19. swing — music
  20. net — after costs
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. swing — to play on
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. date — on the calendar

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