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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. present — the time now
  4. spell — a short time
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. spell — letters
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. present — a gift
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. stand — to bear
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. present — there
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spell — magic
  19. degree — an amount
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. degree — temperature
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. jam — in traffic

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