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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — hasty
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cold — an illness
  5. net — in sport
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. ball — a great time
  8. net — for catching
  9. cold — not warm
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. shower — to wash
  14. net — after costs
  15. ball — a dance
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. shower — rain

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