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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. net — after costs
  3. pit — a hole
  4. kid — to tease
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. cap — a hat
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pit — in a race
  14. kid — child
  15. cap — a lid
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. net — in sport
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — for catching

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