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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. drill — army training
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. saw — the tool
  6. file — a tool
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. net — in sport
  9. squash — the sport
  10. drill — the tool
  11. file — a document
  12. shower — rain
  13. saw — the tool
  14. squash — to crush
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. net — for catching
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bat — the animal
  19. drill — a practice
  20. net — after costs
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. shower — to wash
  24. file — a line of people

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