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

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cell — in biology
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — rain
  6. rest — a break
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cell — a phone
  13. squash — to crush
  14. rest — what's left
  15. fork — in a road
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — the sport
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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