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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — a face
  6. stock — shares
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. shower — rain
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. mug — to rob
  16. chair — a leader
  17. plane — a tool
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mug — a cup
  24. stock — goods

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