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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: key · spring · ground · wind · temple · pitcher · shower · tube

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. spring — of water
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tube — the underground
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ground — crushed
  13. spring — a coil
  14. tube — a container
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — to wash
  17. key — in music
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ground — a position
  22. key — for a lock
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. wind — moving air

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