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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. net — in sport
  3. mine — for digging
  4. suit — to fit
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bass — the fish
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. net — after costs
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bass — low music
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. suit — clothes
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. net — for catching
  19. suit — in cards
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mine — belonging to me

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