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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. shower — rain
  3. season — of the year
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. squash — the sport
  7. saw — the tool
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. kid — to tease
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. stem — to come from
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. saw — the tool
  14. wind — moving air
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wind — moving air
  17. season — in sport
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. squash — to crush
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kid — child
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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