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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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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: cabinet · march · tube · pit · mate · game · shower · hand

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. shower — to wash
  3. game — wild animals
  4. march — the month
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. hand — help
  7. game — a match
  8. pit — in a race
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. hand — in cards
  11. mate — to breed
  12. tube — a container
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. march — music
  15. shower — rain
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. pit — a hole
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mate — a partner
  22. march — the month
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. tube — the underground

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