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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: kid · clip · key · bark · scale · cell · shower · stick

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. shower — to wash
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — in music
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. kid — to tease
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. kid — child
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. bark — to shout
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. clip — for paper
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — a video
  20. key — the most important part
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. clip — to cut

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