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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. shower — rain
  3. cell — a phone
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. press — a publisher
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. charge — electricity
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the sport
  15. press — to push
  16. hand — in cards
  17. charge — in control
  18. cell — in biology
  19. charge — a price
  20. press — newspapers
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — in a prison

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