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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pop — music
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. row — a line
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. pop — soda
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. shower — to wash
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. pop — to visit
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — the time now
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. face — to confront
  18. present — there
  19. present — a gift
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. row — to paddle
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. face — to point toward

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