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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. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. race — humankind
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. mine — for digging
  7. tube — a container
  8. staff — a stick
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. pitch — completely
  11. land — a country
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. tube — the underground
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — employees
  21. perch — the fish
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — ground

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