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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. chest — a box
  3. spring — of water
  4. chest — of your body
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. spring — a coil
  7. hand — help
  8. shower — rain
  9. dip — to sink
  10. ground — crushed
  11. tear — to rip
  12. ground — a position
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. shower — to wash
  24. hand — in cards

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