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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · game · pit · hand · stand · chest · cabinet · shower

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. shower — to wash
  5. game — a match
  6. shower — rain
  7. wound — an injury
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. stand — to bear
  16. chest — a box
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. game — wild animals
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. pit — in a race

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