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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 120 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wind — moving air
  3. net — in sport
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. net — for catching
  7. season — in sport
  8. lean — thin
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. season — of the year
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. lean — to bend
  14. scale — size or range
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. shower — rain
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. net — after costs
  21. wind — moving air
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. season — to add flavour

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