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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. capital — money
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — rain
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. capital — a city
  18. shower — to wash
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. saw — the tool
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — the animal
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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