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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. drill — the tool
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. ball — a great time
  10. key — the most important part
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cap — a lid
  14. drill — army training
  15. cap — a hat
  16. shower — rain
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — in music
  19. scale — in music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. ball — a dance
  22. cap — of ice
  23. drill — a practice
  24. scale — size or range

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