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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. land — to come down
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. shower — to wash
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wound — an injury
  9. lean — to bend
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. plane — a tool
  15. lean — thin
  16. shower — rain
  17. scale — size or range
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. scale — in music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. land — ground
  24. land — a country

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