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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. squash — to crush
  4. roll — a cake
  5. court — of law
  6. chip — for betting
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. chip — to eat
  10. court — for sport
  11. scale — size or range
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wound — an injury
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. squash — the sport
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. court — of a king
  19. rush — hurry
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. scale — in music
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. roll — a list
  24. scale — for weighing

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