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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. net — after costs
  4. shower — rain
  5. face — to point toward
  6. spring — a coil
  7. face — part of the head
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. spring — the season
  10. shower — to wash
  11. band — a music group
  12. band — a ring
  13. spring — of water
  14. mate — to breed
  15. net — in sport
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. net — for catching
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mate — a friend
  21. face — to confront
  22. mate — a partner
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — on the skin

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