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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. shower — rain
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — of water
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. race — a contest
  9. file — a tool
  10. net — in sport
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — to wash
  14. pound — a weight
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — the season
  21. race — the arms race
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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