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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kid — child
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. pop — music
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pound — a weight
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cell — a phone
  16. shower — to wash
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — soda
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. cell — in biology
  24. shower — rain

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