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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pound — a weight
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lie — to recline
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cap — a hat
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. file — a line of people
  12. rash — hasty
  13. land — ground
  14. file — a tool
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. cap — a lid
  19. file — a document
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cap — of ice
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. rash — a series
  24. pitcher — a jug

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