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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. land — ground
  3. march — the month
  4. land — a country
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. land — to come down
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. march — music
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. march — the month
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. staff — employees
  15. sharp — clever
  16. staff — a stick
  17. staff — employees
  18. kid — child
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. kid — to tease
  23. shower — rain
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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