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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: row · mine · pitcher · spell · pound · shower · cell · ball

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. row — to paddle
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. row — a line
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. spell — letters
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. ball — a great time
  13. mine — for digging
  14. ball — a dance
  15. spell — a short time
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. spell — magic
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cell — in biology
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cell — a phone
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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