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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — help
  6. cold — not warm
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pound — a weight
  10. spring — the season
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bore — to drill
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. spring — of water
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bore — to tire
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. deal — to handle
  23. deal — a big deal
  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