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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. squash — the sport
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. hand — in cards
  7. shower — rain
  8. ball — a dance
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. tube — a container
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. hand — help
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tube — the underground
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. squash — to crush
  19. firm — steady
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. firm — decided
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. firm — a company
  24. date — the fruit

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