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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. hand — in cards
  5. perch — the fish
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mark — a grade
  18. cap — a hat
  19. plane — a tool
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mark — a trace
  22. cap — a lid
  23. hand — help
  24. cap — of ice

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