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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. shower — to wash
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tube — the underground
  11. spell — magic
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mug — to rob
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spell — letters
  17. mug — a face
  18. tube — a container
  19. shower — rain
  20. game — a match
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pound — a weight
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mug — a cup

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