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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. hand — help
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. march — the month
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cell — a phone
  10. suit — in cards
  11. lie — to recline
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cell — in biology
  14. ground — a position
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. march — the month
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. ground — crushed
  19. suit — to fit
  20. ground — the earth
  21. march — music
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. suit — clothes
  24. shower — rain

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