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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. shower — rain
  5. spring — of water
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — music
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. march — the month
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — a coil
  13. key — for a lock
  14. spring — the season
  15. plane — a tool
  16. key — in music
  17. net — in sport
  18. key — the most important part
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. clip — for paper
  22. march — the month
  23. net — after costs
  24. clip — a video

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