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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. chest — a box
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. band — a ring
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. cold — an illness
  10. object — a thing
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. shower — to wash
  15. band — a music group
  16. kick — in football
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. object — to protest
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. chest — of your body
  22. shower — rain
  23. object — an aim
  24. chest — of your body

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