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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rest — what's left
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. fork — in a road
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — to be able to
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. can — a tin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. spell — magic
  24. cold — not warm

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