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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. craft — boats
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bound — certain
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. rest — a break
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. squash — to crush
  9. clip — for paper
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bound — tied together
  12. spring — of water
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. spring — the season
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. rest — what's left
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. craft — a skill
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bound — obliged
  24. shower — rain

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