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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitcher · bass · shower · cold · club · mark · prune · chair

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bass — the fish
  4. chair — a leader
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. prune — to trim
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bass — low music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. club — for dancing
  12. mark — a trace
  13. club — for golf
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. shower — rain
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cold — an illness
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mark — a grade

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