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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. shower — rain
  3. spring — the season
  4. lie — to recline
  5. degree — an amount
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. shower — to wash
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. scale — size or range
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. row — to paddle
  16. spring — of water
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. degree — from a university
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. row — a line
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. scale — in music

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