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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fine — all right
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. shower — rain
  7. cold — an illness
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fine — high quality
  10. season — in sport
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. board — to get on
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. board — a committee
  17. season — of the year
  18. wind — moving air

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