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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rock · cold · land · bass · fork · pitcher · dip · club

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. dip — to sink
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — not warm
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. club — for golf
  12. rock — music
  13. land — to come down
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. club — for dancing
  20. rock — a stone
  21. bass — the fish
  22. club — a group
  23. fork — in a road
  24. land — ground

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