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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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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: bay · suit · shower · ground · hand · wound · pitcher · kid

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. suit — clothes
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. suit — to fit
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. shower — to wash
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. ground — a position
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. hand — help
  20. ground — the earth
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. suit — in cards
  23. kid — child
  24. shower — rain

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