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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. shower — rain
  3. fork — in a road
  4. rash — a series
  5. shower — to wash
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. charge — a price
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. saw — the tool
  12. charge — in control
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. kid — to tease
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. saw — the tool
  20. rash — hasty
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. charge — electricity
  23. kid — child
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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