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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: chest · pitcher · coach · wound · fan · bulb · field · shower

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. field — farmland
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bulb — for light
  9. chest — a box
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. wound — an injury
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bulb — for light
  16. shower — rain
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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