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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. object — an aim
  4. row — to paddle
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. object — to protest
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. object — a thing
  10. club — for dancing
  11. mine — for digging
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. club — for golf
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. club — a group
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wake — a trail
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. row — a line
  23. rush — hurry
  24. pitcher — a jug

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