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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. band — a ring
  6. shower — rain
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. kick — in football
  9. wound — an injury
  10. shower — to wash
  11. band — a music group
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. rule — government
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rule — a law
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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