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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fine — high quality
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. field — farmland
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. field — for sport
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pass — a permit
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. fine — all right
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. squash — the sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. field — a subject
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — part of the body

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