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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: wake · band · mark · shower · clip · kid · scale · pitcher

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. clip — a video
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. kid — child
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mark — a grade
  10. shower — rain
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. shower — to wash
  13. kid — to tease
  14. mark — a trace
  15. band — a music group
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. band — a ring
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. scale — in music
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. pitcher — a jug

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