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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 120 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: bark · pitcher · shower · bulb · coach · field · can · spell

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. shower — rain
  4. can — a tin
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. spell — letters
  8. can — a tin
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. field — for sport
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. field — a subject
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spell — magic
  16. can — to be able to
  17. field — farmland
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — for light
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spell — a short time
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. shower — to wash

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