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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cap — a lid
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a friend
  8. prune — to trim
  9. tube — the underground
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — the tool
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mine — for digging
  17. tube — a container
  18. cap — of ice
  19. drill — army training
  20. cap — a hat
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. shower — to wash

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