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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — to wash
  3. hand — in cards
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. club — a group
  7. kid — child
  8. mark — a trace
  9. march — the month
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mark — a grade
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. hand — help
  16. kid — to tease
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. club — for dancing
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. saw — the tool
  22. club — for golf
  23. shower — rain
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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