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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. shower — rain
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. branch — a division
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — music
  14. land — ground
  15. pop — to visit
  16. shower — to wash
  17. net — for catching
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — to come down
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. net — in sport
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. net — after costs
  24. land — a country

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