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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. cap — of ice
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bark — to shout
  7. game — a match
  8. cap — a lid
  9. pit — in a race
  10. game — wild animals
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cap — a hat
  14. squash — to crush
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. squash — the sport
  17. plane — a tool
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. pit — a hole

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