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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — money
  4. prune — to trim
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wake — a trail
  8. capital — a city
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chest — of your body
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. kid — to tease
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. deal — to handle
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chest — a box
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. capital — a big letter

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