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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 120 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: dip · pitcher · shower · lash · pitch · bowl · cold · bat

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. shower — to wash
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitch — completely
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. dip — a sauce

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