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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. branch — a division
  3. last — to go on
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. pit — in a race
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. last — finally
  10. last — final
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pit — a hole
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pop — to visit
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to confront
  18. cold — an illness
  19. shower — rain
  20. pop — music
  21. pop — soda
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — animal skin

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