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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: roll · spring · chair · fork · ground · pitcher · game · lash

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. game — a match
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. spring — a coil
  6. ground — the earth
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. roll — a list
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. spring — the season
  13. chair — a leader
  14. roll — a cake
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fork — in a road
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. ground — a position
  20. game — wild animals
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. spring — of water
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. ground — crushed

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