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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. march — music
  5. kid — to tease
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. hand — help
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. tube — the underground
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. kid — child
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. shower — to wash
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. deal — to handle
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. hand — in cards

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