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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mug — a face
  4. shower — rain
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. spring — the season
  8. shower — to wash
  9. sharp — clever
  10. kid — child
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. spring — of water
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a cup
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. squash — the sport
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. squash — to crush

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