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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. kid — to tease
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. cell — in biology
  6. squash — to crush
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rash — a series
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — to sink
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. shower — rain
  16. cell — a phone
  17. kid — child
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. squash — the sport
  24. shower — to wash

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