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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fall — to drop
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a city
  13. fall — the season
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. fall — to drop
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. toast — bread
  23. pop — to visit
  24. chest — a box

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