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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 116 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. season — in sport
  3. pop — music
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. file — a tool
  6. kick — in football
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. season — of the year
  9. pop — to visit
  10. mug — a face
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. file — a line of people
  14. shower — rain
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — to rob
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. file — a document
  24. pop — soda

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