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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cap — a hat
  3. chip — to eat
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — the most important part
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — in sport
  13. key — in music
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. net — after costs
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cap — of ice
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. rush — hurry
  22. chip — for betting
  23. shower — rain
  24. nail — for a hammer

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