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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 116 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wake — a trail
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. ground — the earth
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. mark — a trace
  15. key — for a lock
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. key — the most important part
  18. mark — a grade
  19. cold — not warm
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — a position
  22. key — in music
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bat — for baseball

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