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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. pitcher — in baseball
  2. scale — in music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. snap — to click
  10. bulb — for light
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. bulb — for light
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. scale — size or range
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. scale — for weighing
  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