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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: shower · row · court · pitcher · bound · tube · saw · spring

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spring — a coil
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. court — of law
  7. bound — tied together
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — rain
  10. bound — certain
  11. court — of a king
  12. row — to paddle
  13. spring — the season
  14. tube — the underground
  15. saw — the tool
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. spring — of water
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. tube — a container
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bound — obliged
  23. row — a line
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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