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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. hand — in cards
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cold — not warm
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. shower — rain
  8. hand — help
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. march — the month
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. march — music
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rash — a series
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. branch — a division
  21. rash — hasty
  22. march — the month
  23. deal — to handle
  24. shower — to wash

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