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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: foot · pitcher · fine · bat · shower · cold · key · ruler

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fine — high quality
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. key — in music
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. key — for a lock
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fine — all right
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. foot — a measure
  24. key — the most important part

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