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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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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: shower · fork · mug · field · face · pitcher · tube · sharp

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. mug — a cup
  3. face — part of the head
  4. field — farmland
  5. face — to point toward
  6. tube — the underground
  7. field — a subject
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — rain
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. field — for sport
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mug — a face
  17. tube — a container
  18. fork — in a road
  19. face — to confront
  20. mug — to rob
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. fork — a garden tool

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