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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 124 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mate — to breed
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. mug — a cup
  9. capital — a city
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. mug — a face
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. sharp — clever
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mate — a partner
  19. capital — money
  20. mate — a friend
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mug — to rob
  24. pitcher — a jug

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