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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pop — music
  6. club — for golf
  7. tear — to rip
  8. squash — to crush
  9. club — a group
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. club — for dancing
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cell — in biology
  14. pound — a weight
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pop — soda
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — a city
  24. tear — from crying

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