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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: rash · fall · stand · bark · bulb · hand · shower · pitcher

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. fall — to drop
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stand — to bear
  13. bulb — for light
  14. shower — rain
  15. fall — the season
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. bulb — for light

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