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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · shower · racket · swing · clip · mine · fall · bear

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bear — the animal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. swing — to play on
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fall — the season
  8. clip — a video
  9. shower — rain
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. swing — in golf
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. swing — music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mine — for digging
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — to wash
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. fall — to drop
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. clip — to cut
  24. racket — for tennis

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