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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pitcher · land · spring · bulb · fan · bat · game · mine

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spring — the season
  4. game — a match
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — the animal
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — a coil
  11. land — a country
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bulb — for light
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. spring — of water
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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