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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 is an ace ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. cap — a hat
  3. shower — to wash
  4. mug — a cup
  5. mug — a face
  6. cap — of ice
  7. current — of water
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cap — a lid
  10. tear — to rip
  11. kid — child
  12. current — happening now
  13. shower — rain
  14. current — electric
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. mug — to rob
  17. tear — from crying
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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