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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. bear — the animal
  3. net — in sport
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. shower — to wash
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. court — of law
  8. shower — rain
  9. game — wild animals
  10. court — of a king
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. bear — the animal
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. court — for sport

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