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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: bark · pitcher · dip · court · snap · shower · spring · staff

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. spring — a coil
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. staff — employees
  5. bark — to shout
  6. court — of law
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. staff — employees
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. court — of a king
  12. shower — rain
  13. snap — to click
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spring — the season
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. shower — to wash
  19. court — for sport
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. spring — of water
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. staff — a stick

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