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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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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: chest · shower · pit · cold · last · game · stick · object

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. object — to protest
  5. last — to go on
  6. pit — in a race
  7. chest — of your body
  8. game — a match
  9. shower — to wash
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pit — a hole
  17. object — an aim
  18. last — final
  19. chest — of your body
  20. last — finally
  21. object — a thing
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chest — a box
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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