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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. rash — hasty
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. rash — a series
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. last — to go on
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — the fruit
  18. last — final
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. last — finally
  21. scale — in music
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. scale — size or range
  24. wind — moving air

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