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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. field — for sport
  5. tube — the underground
  6. field — farmland
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. hand — in cards
  12. field — a subject
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. rule — government
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. chair — a leader
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — a law
  24. tube — a container

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