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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: club · game · wind · pitch · shower · tube · lean · spell

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  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. lean — to bend
  2. shower — to wash
  3. tube — the underground
  4. club — for dancing
  5. spell — letters
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — magic
  15. wind — moving air
  16. lean — thin
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. pitch — completely
  19. club — a group
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. shower — rain
  22. club — for golf
  23. tube — a container
  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