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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: drill · shower · ball · key · squash · pitcher · cold · nail

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. key — the most important part
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. ball — a great time
  6. cold — an illness
  7. drill — a practice
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cold — not warm
  11. squash — to crush
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. drill — army training
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. drill — the tool
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. shower — rain
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. key — for a lock
  23. squash — the 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