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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pop — music
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cold — not warm
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. prune — to trim
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. pop — to visit
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. shower — rain
  24. pop — soda

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