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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. object — to protest
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. object — an aim
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. hand — in cards
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. hand — help
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. object — a thing
  15. wake — a trail
  16. shower — rain
  17. cell — a phone
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. can — to be able to
  24. kid — child

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