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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. ball — a round shape
  2. cap — a lid
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. ball — a dance
  5. shower — rain
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cap — a hat
  10. drill — the tool
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. drill — a practice
  13. scale — size or range
  14. shower — to wash
  15. scale — in music
  16. drill — army training
  17. cap — of ice
  18. ball — a great time
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — for digging
  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