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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · cell · club · present · shower · stick

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. present — there
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. club — for golf
  5. present — a gift
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. shower — rain
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cell — a phone
  12. present — the time now
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. cell — in biology
  15. chest — a box
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. club — a group
  18. chest — of your body

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