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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bore — to tire
  3. shower — rain
  4. suit — clothes
  5. shower — to wash
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. suit — in cards
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bat — the animal
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. rush — hurry
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — money
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — to paddle
  21. suit — to fit
  22. bore — to drill
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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