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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. chest — of your body
  3. shower — rain
  4. chest — of your body
  5. squash — to crush
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. shower — to wash
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lean — thin
  14. present — there
  15. present — the time now
  16. last — to go on
  17. chest — a box
  18. dip — to sink
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. squash — the sport
  21. last — final
  22. lean — to bend
  23. last — finally
  24. dip — a sauce

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