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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cap — of ice
  4. fine — high quality
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. chest — a box
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cap — a hat
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — of your body
  18. kid — child
  19. shower — to wash
  20. can — a tin
  21. cap — a lid
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rush — a thrill

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