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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. squash — to crush
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rest — what's left
  5. mug — a face
  6. rest — a break
  7. tube — a container
  8. mug — a cup
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. rest — what's left
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bank — for money
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. bank — for money
  20. squash — the sport
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bank — of a river

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