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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 120 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: wound · spring · hand · ground · ball · craft · temple · pitcher

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ball — a great time
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. spring — of water
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ground — crushed
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. wound — an injury
  12. spring — the season
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. craft — boats
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. craft — a skill
  23. hand — help
  24. spring — a coil

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