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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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. staff — employees
  2. shower — rain
  3. suit — clothes
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. staff — a stick
  7. suit — in cards
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. kid — child
  10. prune — to trim
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. suit — to fit
  13. bat — the animal
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. squash — to crush
  18. chair — a leader
  19. squash — the sport
  20. staff — employees
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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