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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. key — in music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. spring — the season
  7. kid — child
  8. bark — to shout
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. race — humankind
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. spring — of water
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. key — for a lock
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. key — the most important part
  23. shower — to wash
  24. pitcher — a jug

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