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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. net — in sport
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. band — a ring
  6. shower — rain
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wound — an injury
  9. shower — to wash
  10. row — a line
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. wound — an injury
  16. net — after costs
  17. rush — hurry
  18. net — for catching
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. row — to paddle
  22. band — a music group
  23. dip — to sink
  24. rush — a thrill

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