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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. row — a line
  7. drill — the tool
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. drill — army training
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — to paddle
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. game — a match
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. stem — to come from
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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