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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. shower — rain
  4. hand — help
  5. object — an aim
  6. file — a document
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cap — a lid
  10. object — to protest
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a tool
  15. bear — the animal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cap — of ice
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cap — a hat
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. file — a line of people
  23. object — a thing
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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