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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. mate — to breed
  3. tube — a container
  4. bat — the animal
  5. dip — to sink
  6. mate — a partner
  7. pop — to visit
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rest — what's left
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. mate — a friend
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. pop — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tube — the underground
  19. pop — soda
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rest — a break
  23. chest — a box
  24. rest — what's left

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