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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: ball · key · wind · hide · trunk · last · shower · pitcher

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wind — moving air
  4. shower — rain
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. ball — a dance
  9. key — for a lock
  10. shower — to wash
  11. last — finally
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. key — in music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. key — the most important part
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wind — moving air
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. last — to go on
  24. ball — a great time

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