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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. land — ground
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — money
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. pit — a hole
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. rash — hasty
  13. capital — a city
  14. land — a country
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kick — in football
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. land — to come down
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. stem — to come from
  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