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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. club — for dancing
  3. shower — to wash
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spell — a short time
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. spell — magic
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spell — letters
  12. club — for golf
  13. track — a song
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. club — a group
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. ground — a position
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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