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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — to crush
  5. wound — an injury
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. dip — to sink
  8. shower — rain
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. land — ground
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. squash — the sport
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. land — a country
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. perch — the fish
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cell — a phone
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. land — to come down
  24. rash — a series

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