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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. leaves — lets stay
  2. drill — a practice
  3. saw — the tool
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. shower — to wash
  6. can — a tin
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. saw — the tool
  9. prune — to trim
  10. shower — rain
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. can — to be able to
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. can — a tin
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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