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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. land — to come down
  8. shower — to wash
  9. can — to be able to
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — in cards
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rest — a break
  17. land — ground
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. land — a country
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. hand — help
  22. rest — what's left
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. shower — rain

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