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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — not warm
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spell — magic
  8. rush — hurry
  9. net — in sport
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. spell — a short time
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. net — for catching
  19. shower — to wash
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spell — letters
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. net — after costs

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