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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. face — part of the head
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. kid — to tease
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. land — a country
  13. shower — rain
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. branch — a division
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. kid — child
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. branch — of a tree

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