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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. mate — a partner
  5. fine — high quality
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — to wash
  10. tube — the underground
  11. shower — rain
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. tube — a container
  15. fine — all right
  16. hand — in cards
  17. mine — for digging
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a friend
  24. chest — a box

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