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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. drill — a practice
  4. chest — of your body
  5. roll — a list
  6. land — to come down
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. land — ground
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. chest — of your body
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. drill — army training
  15. land — a country
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. drill — the tool
  20. roll — a cake
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stand — to bear
  24. chest — a box

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