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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. toast — bread
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. perch — the fish
  10. tear — to rip
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. cold — an illness
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. season — in sport
  22. shower — to wash
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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