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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. key — in music
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. last — finally
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cell — in biology
  11. ball — a great time
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. key — for a lock
  14. key — the most important part
  15. cell — a phone
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. last — final
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — rain
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. last — to go on
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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