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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. hand — in cards
  4. staff — a stick
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. season — of the year
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. game — wild animals
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. foot — a measure
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. game — a match
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. shower — rain
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. hand — help
  20. file — a line of people
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. season — in sport

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