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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 116 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 · bass · bore · spring · net · pitch · fall · ground

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. spring — a coil
  3. net — in sport
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. spring — the season
  7. ground — a position
  8. fall — the season
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. net — for catching
  12. fall — to drop
  13. ground — crushed
  14. net — after costs
  15. bass — the fish
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitch — completely
  18. ground — the earth
  19. spring — of water
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bass — low music
  22. bore — to drill
  23. shower — rain
  24. bore — to tire

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