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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 120 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spell — letters
  3. deal — to handle
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. drill — army training
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cell — in biology
  9. drill — the tool
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spell — a short time
  14. drill — a practice
  15. spell — magic
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. mine — for digging
  20. squash — the sport
  21. cell — a phone
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. squash — to crush

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