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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 120 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. lie — to recline
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. degree — temperature
  6. game — a match
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chest — a box
  11. shower — rain
  12. game — wild animals
  13. ground — a position
  14. chest — of your body
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. shower — to wash
  17. degree — an amount
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chest — of your body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — from a university
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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