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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: shower · drill · rock · pitcher · track · safe · spring · sharp

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. spring — of water
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. drill — the tool
  6. shower — to wash
  7. track — to keep track
  8. drill — a practice
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. rock — music
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — clever
  16. drill — army training
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rock — a stone
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. spring — the season
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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