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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. bulb — for light
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. mate — a partner
  11. deal — to handle
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bulb — for light
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. face — to confront
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. shower — rain
  22. mate — to breed
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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