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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spring — a coil
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bound — obliged
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. spring — the season
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. spring — of water
  11. hand — help
  12. bound — tied together
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bound — certain
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mine — for digging
  24. ruler — for measuring

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