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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — of water
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a friend
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. spring — a coil
  8. shower — rain
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. mate — a partner
  17. pop — music
  18. wax — to grow
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pop — to visit
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. pop — soda
  23. spring — the season
  24. hand — help

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