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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. 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. stand — on your feet
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. roll — a cake
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — rain
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — after costs
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — music
  10. net — in sport
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pop — soda
  15. key — in music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. key — the most important part
  18. perch — the fish
  19. key — for a lock
  20. net — for catching
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — to bear
  24. 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