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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. last — to go on
  4. drill — a practice
  5. hand — help
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. march — the month
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. hand — in cards
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. drill — army training
  16. shower — rain
  17. march — the month
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. march — music
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. plane — a tool

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