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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. shower — rain
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pound — a weight
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. game — a match
  11. rash — a series
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. tube — a container
  20. tube — the underground
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. shower — to wash
  24. game — wild animals

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