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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. net — for catching
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. drill — a practice
  8. net — in sport
  9. drill — the tool
  10. mate — to breed
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. mate — a friend
  15. key — in music
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. net — after costs
  18. drill — army training
  19. shower — rain
  20. mate — a partner
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. key — the most important part
  23. cold — an illness
  24. key — for a lock

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