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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. pound — a weight
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chip — to eat
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. kid — child
  14. file — a tool
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. kid — to tease
  17. sharp — clever
  18. shower — to wash
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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