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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. race — humankind
  7. shower — to wash
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bass — the fish
  11. race — the arms race
  12. pound — a weight
  13. chair — a leader
  14. hand — help
  15. rash — hasty
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bass — low music
  19. race — a contest
  20. shower — rain
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. rash — a series
  24. chair — to sit on

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