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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wound — an injury
  6. scale — in music
  7. rest — what's left
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. charge — a price
  11. charge — in control
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. charge — electricity
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rest — what's left
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. field — for sport
  21. shower — rain
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rest — a break

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