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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 124 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pop — music
  3. rest — what's left
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. roll — a cake
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda
  19. shower — rain
  20. chest — a box
  21. cap — a lid
  22. roll — a list
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cap — of ice

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