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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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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: stick · wound · vault · wind · pitcher · row · nail · spring

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wind — moving air
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. wound — an injury
  7. row — to paddle
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. vault — a safe
  12. row — a line
  13. spring — the season
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. spring — a coil
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spring — of water
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. nail — on a finger

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