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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: hide · mouse · shower · bat · arm · march · file · cell

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. file — a tool
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cell — a phone
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. shower — rain
  8. file — a document
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cell — in biology
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. march — the month
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. shower — to wash
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. file — a line of people

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