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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. staff — employees
  4. cold — not warm
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. shower — to wash
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. staff — employees
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. staff — a stick
  17. sharp — clever
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. pound — a weight
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — lets stay

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