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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wind — moving air
  4. shower — to wash
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. hand — help
  7. land — ground
  8. lean — to bend
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. shower — rain
  13. mug — a cup
  14. hand — in cards
  15. ball — a dance
  16. land — a country
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mug — to rob
  19. ball — a great time
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. land — to come down
  23. wound — an injury
  24. lean — thin

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