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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cold — an illness
  3. file — a line of people
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hand — help
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bound — certain
  12. pitch — completely
  13. file — a tool
  14. bound — obliged
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. hand — in cards
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a document
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. ball — a great time

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