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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mug — a cup
  8. mug — a face
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — to rob
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. race — the arms race
  16. prune — to trim
  17. race — humankind
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cold — an illness
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. race — a contest
  24. wax — in the ear

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