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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. deal — to handle
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. shower — to wash
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. shower — rain
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. present — a gift
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. scale — in music
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. present — there
  17. scale — size or range
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. present — the time now
  21. saw — the tool
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. deal — a big deal

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