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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 taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. charge — in control
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — a leader
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. charge — electricity
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. game — a match
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chest — a box
  17. rush — hurry
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. game — wild animals
  20. shower — rain
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. tube — a container
  23. charge — a price
  24. 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