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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 124 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. shower — rain
  4. club — for dancing
  5. kid — to tease
  6. ball — a dance
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. kid — child
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. march — music
  12. club — a group
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wound — an injury
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ball — a great time
  22. club — for golf
  23. shower — to wash
  24. scale — in music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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