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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: craft · pitcher · bulb · hand · scale · shower · race · court

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. court — of a king
  5. bulb — for light
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. shower — to wash
  8. race — a contest
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bulb — for light
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a skill
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. scale — in music
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. court — for sport
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. shower — rain
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. court — of law

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