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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. shower — rain
  3. bank — for money
  4. kid — to tease
  5. club — a group
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bank — for money
  8. bank — of a river
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. kid — child
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. club — for dancing
  16. stem — to come from
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. club — for golf

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