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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. roll — a cake
  6. root — of a word
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. root — the cause
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. ball — a dance
  11. shower — rain
  12. game — wild animals
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. roll — a list
  15. prune — to trim
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. root — of a plant
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a great time
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. prune — to trim

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