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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chest — of your body
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. row — to paddle
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. spell — magic
  13. press — newspapers
  14. row — a line
  15. kid — child
  16. press — a publisher
  17. mine — for digging
  18. chest — a box
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. press — to push
  24. chest — of your body

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