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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. shower — rain
  5. spell — letters
  6. kid — to tease
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. press — to push
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. land — ground
  14. press — a publisher
  15. spell — magic
  16. date — the fruit
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — a short time
  24. kid — child

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