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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — a box
  3. spring — of water
  4. kick — in football
  5. spring — the season
  6. shower — rain
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — music
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. spring — a coil
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. rush — hurry
  24. fan — to cool the air

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