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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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. net — in sport
  4. track — to keep track
  5. spring — of water
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. court — of law
  9. track — a path
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. spring — a coil
  13. track — a song
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. court — of a king
  16. race — the arms race
  17. net — after costs
  18. court — for sport
  19. spring — the season
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pound — a weight
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wake — a trail

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