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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. chest — of your body
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rest — a break
  5. field — for sport
  6. rest — what's left
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. field — farmland
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — a hat
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. rest — what's left
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. field — a subject
  22. hand — help
  23. cap — of ice
  24. jam — a tight spot

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