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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mate — a friend
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. chest — a box
  7. ball — a great time
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bulb — for light
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — to breed
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ball — a dance
  19. shower — rain
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. bulb — for light
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. ball — a round shape

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