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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: land · shower · mark · spring · pitcher · chest · bank · staff

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. bank — for money
  3. chest — a box
  4. spring — of water
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. land — a country
  7. chest — of your body
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chest — of your body
  10. land — to come down
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. staff — employees
  16. land — ground
  17. bank — of a river
  18. mark — a trace
  19. shower — rain
  20. staff — employees
  21. bank — for money
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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