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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: stand · nail · shower · spring · wound · sharp · pitcher · chair

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. spring — the season
  3. chair — a leader
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wound — an injury
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. sharp — clever
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. wound — an injury
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. shower — rain
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. stand — to bear
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. stand — for spectators

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