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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — help
  4. scale — in music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bass — the fish
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bass — low music
  11. shower — rain
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. scale — size or range
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bear — the animal
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bear — the animal
  21. chest — a box
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. kick — in football
  24. bear — to put up with

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