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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 120 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. land — to come down
  5. scale — in music
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stock — goods
  10. land — ground
  11. squash — to crush
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wound — an injury
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. stock — shares
  16. shower — rain
  17. land — a country
  18. kick — in football
  19. squash — the sport
  20. scale — size or range
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. wound — an injury
  24. scale — for weighing

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