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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bass — the fish
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bass — low music
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. cap — of ice
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bark — to shout
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cap — a hat
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. shower — rain
  22. cell — in biology
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. cell — in a prison

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