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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. row — a line
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. lie — to recline
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. bulb — for light
  8. game — wild animals
  9. shower — rain
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bulb — for light
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — of law
  17. game — a match
  18. saw — the tool
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. court — of a king
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. court — for sport
  24. lie — an untruth

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