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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. shower — to wash
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. foot — a measure
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. kid — child
  11. cell — in biology
  12. snap — to click
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. capital — a city
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. kid — to tease
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. shower — rain
  24. capital — money

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