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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 116 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. squash — the sport
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bound — tied together
  6. hand — help
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. snap — to click
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. cold — not warm
  15. band — a ring
  16. bound — obliged
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bound — certain
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. cabinet — ministers

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