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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. foot — a measure
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mug — a face
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. spring — the season
  14. fall — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. fall — to drop
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. spring — a coil
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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