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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cue — a hint
  3. net — in sport
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cue — a signal
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. degree — an amount
  9. net — for catching
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. cell — in biology
  16. shower — to wash
  17. net — after costs
  18. spring — of water
  19. bore — to tire
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bore — to drill
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. spring — the season

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