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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — rain
  3. band — a ring
  4. pit — a hole
  5. band — a music group
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — low music
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. pit — in a race
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. pound — a weight
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rush — hurry
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. shower — to wash

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