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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: tube · rash · chip · tear · cold · drill · pop · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. drill — army training
  3. tube — a container
  4. drill — the tool
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pop — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — soda
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rash — hasty
  18. chip — for betting
  19. pop — to visit
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tube — the underground
  22. drill — a practice
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rash — a series

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