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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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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. hand — in cards
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. shower — to wash
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. rush — hurry
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. ground — crushed
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. shower — rain
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hand — help
  18. rush — a thrill

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