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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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. shower — rain
  7. squash — to crush
  8. wound — an injury
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. kid — to tease
  11. squash — the sport
  12. rash — hasty
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spring — the season
  16. band — a ring
  17. wound — an injury
  18. band — a music group
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kid — child
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. rash — a series
  24. spring — of water

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