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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. net — in sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — army training
  6. net — after costs
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rash — a series
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. net — for catching
  13. staff — a stick
  14. squash — the sport
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. rash — hasty
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — the tool
  23. squash — to crush
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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