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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. shower — rain
  3. saw — the tool
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cold — not warm
  9. march — music
  10. perch — the fish
  11. press — a publisher
  12. press — to push
  13. march — the month
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. press — newspapers
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. march — the month
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. lash — an eyelash

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