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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mug — to rob
  3. saw — the tool
  4. object — a thing
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fork — in a road
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mug — a face
  9. band — a music group
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. band — a ring
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. object — to protest
  17. stand — to bear
  18. saw — the tool
  19. object — an aim
  20. mug — a cup
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. fork — a garden tool

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