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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rock — a stone
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rock — music
  8. mate — a friend
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. squash — the sport
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — the earth
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — rain
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  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