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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. band — a ring
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. shower — rain
  5. cold — an illness
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spell — letters
  9. craft — boats
  10. swing — music
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. swing — in golf
  13. spell — magic
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. plane — a tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a music group
  21. swing — to play on
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. craft — a skill

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