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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. prune — to trim
  4. race — humankind
  5. race — a contest
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. court — for sport
  11. race — the arms race
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bat — the animal
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. court — of law
  17. shower — to wash
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. court — of a king
  22. prune — to trim
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bat — for baseball

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