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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. net — for catching
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. spring — the season
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. net — after costs
  14. cell — a phone
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. net — in sport
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. vault — a safe
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cell — in biology

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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