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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. craft — boats
  8. shower — to wash
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. ground — the earth
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pit — a hole
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chair — a leader
  15. hand — help
  16. shower — rain
  17. ground — a position
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. craft — a skill
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pit — in a race
  24. ground — crushed

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