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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pound — a weight
  4. net — after costs
  5. kid — to tease
  6. face — to confront
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — in sport
  11. season — in sport
  12. face — part of the head
  13. kid — child
  14. shower — rain
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — of the year
  18. face — to point toward

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