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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. file — a tool
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. plane — a tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a line of people
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. kid — child
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. kid — to tease
  15. can — a tin
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. can — to be able to
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. can — a tin
  24. file — a document

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