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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. hand — help
  2. race — the arms race
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. face — to point toward
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. face — to confront
  7. hand — in cards
  8. dip — to sink
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. perch — the fish
  11. pit — in a race
  12. shower — to wash
  13. drill — army training
  14. face — part of the head
  15. drill — a practice
  16. race — a contest
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. race — humankind
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. drill — the tool
  22. pit — a hole
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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