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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: pitcher · file · land · drill · tube · shower · wound · toast

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. wound — an injury
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. land — a country
  6. tube — the underground
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wound — an injury
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. drill — army training
  14. land — to come down
  15. toast — bread
  16. tube — a container
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. file — a tool
  22. land — ground
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. file — a document

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