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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — rain
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lie — to recline
  8. march — music
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. chest — a box
  11. cold — an illness
  12. tube — the underground
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. march — the month
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. stock — goods
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. stock — shares
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. tube — a container

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