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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. jam — a tight spot
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. mug — to rob
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. squash — to crush
  8. squash — the sport
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. mug — a face
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. mug — a cup
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. rush — hurry
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — money
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — a city
  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