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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. shower — rain
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chest — of your body
  5. foot — a measure
  6. chest — a box
  7. club — for dancing
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. mine — for digging
  11. club — for golf
  12. last — to go on
  13. game — wild animals
  14. rush — hurry
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. game — a match
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. shower — to wash
  22. last — final
  23. club — a group
  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