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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. hand — help
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lean — to bend
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. wind — moving air
  7. craft — boats
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. lean — thin
  17. bark — to shout
  18. hand — in cards
  19. craft — a skill
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — hasty

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