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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. march — the month
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. march — music
  10. shower — rain
  11. stem — to come from
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. march — the month
  17. shower — to wash
  18. hand — help
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. patient — a sick person

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