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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: saw · tube · roll · court · field · pitcher · last · shower

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. roll — a cake
  3. court — for sport
  4. roll — a list
  5. tube — a container
  6. court — of law
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. tube — the underground
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. shower — rain
  13. field — farmland
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. last — finally
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. last — to go on
  20. last — final
  21. court — of a king
  22. field — a subject
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. field — for sport

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