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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. tube — the underground
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. shower — rain
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. tube — a container
  17. clip — a video
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. clip — to cut
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bark — to shout

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