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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. band — a ring
  4. last — finally
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cue — for pool
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. cue — a hint
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. last — final
  18. cue — a signal
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. last — to go on
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. band — a music group
  24. wave — of the sea

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