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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fine — all right
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. spring — of water
  17. band — a music group
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. spring — a coil
  20. fine — high quality
  21. spring — the season
  22. shower — rain
  23. band — a ring
  24. fine — a penalty

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