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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wake — a trail
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — a match
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. game — wild animals
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. shower — rain
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cold — not warm

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