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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. game — wild animals
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bulb — for light
  5. game — a match
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. tube — a container
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. net — in sport
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. shower — rain
  15. bulb — for light
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. tube — the underground
  18. game — a kind of play

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