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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: chest · chip · hand · pop · leaves · saw · pitcher · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. hand — in cards
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. pop — to visit
  11. saw — the tool
  12. pop — soda
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — the tool
  15. shower — rain
  16. hand — help
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chip — to eat
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pop — music
  24. chip — for betting

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