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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. squash — the sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. sharp — clever
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. march — the month
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. march — music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. squash — to crush
  22. march — the month
  23. pop — soda
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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