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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. club — a group
  3. pop — music
  4. club — for dancing
  5. cold — not warm
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cell — a phone
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. shower — rain
  18. rush — hurry
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. club — for golf
  21. pop — to visit
  22. saw — the tool
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. pop — soda

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