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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. field — a subject
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bat — the animal
  7. spell — magic
  8. field — farmland
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — the tool
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. drill — army training
  15. spell — letters
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. field — for sport
  20. spell — a short time
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. hand — in cards
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. hide — to keep secret

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