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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. drill — the tool
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pop — soda
  10. spring — the season
  11. shower — rain
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. rock — a stone
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. shower — to wash
  17. pop — music
  18. spring — of water
  19. kid — to tease
  20. drill — army training
  21. rock — music
  22. drill — a practice
  23. pop — to visit
  24. kid — child

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