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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. present — a gift
  3. wind — moving air
  4. race — humankind
  5. present — there
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. present — the time now
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. suit — to fit
  13. suit — in cards
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. race — a contest
  18. suit — clothes
  19. race — the arms race
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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