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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. squash — to crush
  5. shower — to wash
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. last — final
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cell — a phone
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — army training
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. squash — the sport
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cell — in biology
  21. last — to go on
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. last — finally
  24. kick — in football

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