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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: fan · spell · nail · mine · racket · straw · pitcher · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — a short time
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. spell — magic
  19. wound — an injury
  20. spell — letters
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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