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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — to come from
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. drill — army training
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ball — a dance
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. drill — a practice
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bear — the animal
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. shower — rain
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bear — the animal
  24. stem — of a plant

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