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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. shower — to wash
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pit — in a race
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. chest — a box
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. plane — a tool
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. chest — of your body
  19. shower — rain
  20. pit — a hole
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — to sink
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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