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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wound — an injury
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rock — a stone
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. rock — music
  12. deal — to handle
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chip — for betting
  22. clip — to cut
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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