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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. perch — the fish
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — rain
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. content — happy
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. content — the amount
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. perch — for a bird

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