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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. roll — a list
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. band — a music group
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. game — a match
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. stem — to come from
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. roll — a cake
  21. band — a ring
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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