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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. last — finally
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — in football
  5. last — to go on
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stock — goods
  11. game — a match
  12. last — final
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. stock — shares
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. game — wild animals
  19. fall — the season
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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