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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. season — of the year
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. kid — child
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. season — in sport
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. mine — for digging
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cell — a phone
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bass — low music
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bass — the fish
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. land — to come down

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