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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. bank — for money
  3. fall — the season
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. can — a tin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. scale — in music
  14. bank — for money
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. fall — to drop
  17. race — humankind
  18. bank — of a river
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — a contest
  23. pound — a weight
  24. scale — size or range

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