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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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 — a meteor shower
  2. clip — for paper
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. rash — a series
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. shower — to wash
  7. clip — a video
  8. kid — child
  9. row — a line
  10. shower — rain
  11. clip — to cut
  12. foot — a measure
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. row — to paddle
  20. degree — an amount
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  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