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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: stick · shower · hand · net · field · fall · chest · bowl

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. field — farmland
  3. chest — a box
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. hand — help
  6. net — for catching
  7. fall — the season
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. field — for sport
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. net — after costs
  13. shower — to wash
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. shower — rain
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fall — to drop
  20. net — in sport
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fall — to drop
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. field — a subject

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