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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. squash — the sport
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. track — a song
  5. shower — rain
  6. track — to keep track
  7. squash — to crush
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. track — a path
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kid — child
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. kid — to tease
  23. race — the arms race
  24. hide — animal skin

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