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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: shower · mine · mug · lean · fall · degree · pitcher · ground

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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. shower — to wash
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mug — a cup
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mug — a face
  12. shower — rain
  13. lean — thin
  14. fall — to drop
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. ground — crushed
  17. degree — an amount
  18. mug — to rob
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. fall — the season
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. lean — to bend

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