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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 120 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. sharp — clever
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. game — a match
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. tube — the underground
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. tube — a container
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. game — wild animals

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