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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: net · pitcher · bowl · nail · race · spring · ground · prune

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. ground — the earth
  6. prune — to trim
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. spring — the season
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. spring — a coil
  13. net — in sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. net — for catching
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. race — a contest
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. prune — to trim
  21. spring — of water
  22. net — after costs
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — humankind

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