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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 124 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. file — a line of people
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. file — a tool
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bound — tied together
  8. hand — help
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bound — certain
  11. shower — rain
  12. hand — in cards
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. shower — to wash
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a document
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bound — obliged
  20. wound — an injury
  21. ball — a dance
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wound — an injury
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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