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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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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: shower · chip · pound · drill · pitcher · spring · game · net

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. net — in sport
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. chip — to eat
  6. drill — a practice
  7. net — after costs
  8. shower — to wash
  9. net — for catching
  10. chip — for betting
  11. spring — a coil
  12. shower — rain
  13. spring — of water
  14. pound — a weight
  15. drill — army training
  16. spring — the season
  17. drill — the tool
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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