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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — the earth
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. shower — rain
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a match
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. scale — in music
  11. ground — crushed
  12. dip — to sink
  13. scale — size or range
  14. shower — to wash
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. ground — a position
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. can — a tin
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. dip — to dunk

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