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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: net · calf · ball · pitcher · wind · clip · shower · suit

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. ball — a great time
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. clip — a video
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. clip — to cut
  10. suit — to fit
  11. net — after costs
  12. suit — clothes
  13. net — for catching
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. clip — for paper
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. suit — in cards
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. wind — moving air
  23. net — in sport
  24. ball — a dance

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