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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — final
  6. bass — low music
  7. tube — the underground
  8. bass — the fish
  9. rest — a break
  10. toast — bread
  11. last — to go on
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. last — finally
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. date — the fruit
  16. cold — an illness
  17. shower — to wash
  18. tube — a container
  19. rest — what's left
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cold — not warm

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