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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: shower · pitcher · band · stem · can · kick · rest · field

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. band — a ring
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. shower — rain
  4. band — a music group
  5. can — a tin
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. can — a tin
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — in football
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. can — to be able to
  15. rest — what's left
  16. stem — to come from
  17. rest — a break
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. field — a subject
  21. rest — what's left
  22. shower — to wash
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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