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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. spring — a coil
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. ground — a position
  8. hand — help
  9. squash — the sport
  10. hand — in cards
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. ground — the earth
  13. squash — to crush
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. shower — to wash
  18. ground — crushed

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