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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. last — finally
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. sharp — clever
  5. last — to go on
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wound — an injury
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wound — an injury
  11. squash — the sport
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — a weight
  17. tube — a container
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. tube — the underground
  21. squash — to crush
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. last — final
  24. tube — in a tire

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