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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: spring · pitcher · saw · shower · branch · deal · wind · pitch

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wind — moving air
  3. branch — a division
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. spring — the season
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. wind — moving air
  13. spring — a coil
  14. shower — rain
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spring — of water
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. saw — the tool
  24. deal — to handle

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