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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. spring — the season
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. land — to come down
  8. craft — boats
  9. spell — letters
  10. spring — a coil
  11. land — ground
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. shower — rain
  14. spring — of water
  15. craft — a skill
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. game — wild animals
  19. land — a country
  20. content — the amount
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. game — a match
  24. content — happy

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