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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 116 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: mine · hand · rest · file · pitcher · can · straw · ball

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. ball — a great time
  4. can — a tin
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mine — for digging
  7. hand — help
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. hand — in cards
  15. rest — what's left
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. rest — a break
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a document
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rest — what's left
  22. can — to be able to
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. can — a tin

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