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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cold — not warm
  5. field — farmland
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — a subject
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. land — a country
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. land — ground
  17. pound — a weight
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. field — for sport
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. land — to come down
  23. rush — hurry
  24. cold — the Cold War

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