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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. mark — a grade
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cell — in biology
  9. drill — a practice
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. shower — rain
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cell — a phone
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. mark — a trace
  24. chip — to eat

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