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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. game — wild animals
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. shower — rain
  9. prune — to trim
  10. game — a match
  11. current — happening now
  12. spell — letters
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. shower — to wash
  16. current — of water
  17. prune — to trim
  18. current — electric
  19. spell — magic
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. spell — a short time
  24. prune — the fruit

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