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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mark — a grade
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mark — a trace
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. hand — help
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. shower — rain
  22. mug — to rob
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mug — a face

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