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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 ________________ took off on time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ground — a position
  5. chest — a box
  6. cap — a hat
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ground — crushed
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. plane — a tool
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. ground — the earth
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fall — the season
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — of ice

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