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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cap — a hat
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — rain
  8. track — a song
  9. cap — a lid
  10. ball — a dance
  11. cap — of ice
  12. track — to keep track
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. tear — to rip
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. ball — a great time
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. tear — from crying
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. saw — the tool

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