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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: bound · hand · nail · kid · pop · spring · pitcher · date

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pop — soda
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — the fruit
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. spring — a coil
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pop — music
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bound — tied together
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. spring — the season
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bound — obliged
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bound — certain
  22. spring — of water
  23. pop — to visit
  24. kid — to tease

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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