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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cell — in biology
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chest — a box
  14. snap — to click
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. chest — of your body
  17. shower — rain
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. mouse — the animal

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