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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. shower — rain
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spell — magic
  7. shower — to wash
  8. spell — a short time
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. wind — moving air
  12. vault — a safe
  13. game — wild animals
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. spell — letters
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. stem — to come from
  22. chest — a box
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. ruler — a monarch

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