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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tube — a container
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. pit — a hole
  6. squash — the sport
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. vault — a safe
  13. wake — a trail
  14. squash — to crush
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — the underground
  17. kid — child
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. pit — in a race
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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