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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. game — a match
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. chest — of your body
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. net — after costs
  11. chest — a box
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. game — wild animals
  14. net — in sport
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. plane — a tool
  20. net — for catching
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — of your body
  23. shower — rain
  24. wind — moving air

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