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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cap — a hat
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cap — of ice
  5. chest — a box
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — a container
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cap — a lid
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. shower — rain
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cell — a phone
  24. mouse — for a computer

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