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

Word bank: shower · club · charge · pitcher · chest · leaves · wave · kid

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. charge — electricity
  5. chest — of your body
  6. kid — child
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. charge — in control
  9. charge — a price
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. club — a group
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. club — for golf
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. chest — a box
  24. pitcher — a jug

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