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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · hand · drill · cold · tube · plane · sharp · club

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — an illness
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. drill — army training
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hand — help
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. tube — a container
  15. club — for golf
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. club — for dancing
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. drill — a practice
  22. club — a group
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. drill — the tool

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