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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 124 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. game — wild animals
  3. face — to confront
  4. pit — in a race
  5. bass — low music
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. game — a match
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chest — of your body
  10. face — to point toward
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. face — part of the head
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chest — a box
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bass — the fish
  24. calf — a young animal

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