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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. net — after costs
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. net — for catching
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — a box
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. file — a tool
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. file — a line of people
  15. shower — rain
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. file — a document
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. rush — hurry
  23. net — in sport
  24. shower — to wash

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