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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. file — a line of people
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pop — soda
  5. bank — for money
  6. pop — to visit
  7. bank — of a river
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bank — for money
  10. file — a document
  11. drill — a practice
  12. game — a match
  13. file — a tool
  14. snap — to click
  15. kick — in football
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. drill — the tool
  19. shower — rain
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. drill — army training
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. pop — music

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