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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. mark — to pay attention
  3. saw — the tool
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. land — a country
  6. net — in sport
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — a trail
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. mark — a grade
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. land — ground
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. mark — a trace
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. net — after costs
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. land — to come down
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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