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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — of ice
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — an injury
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rock — a stone
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. rock — music
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cap — a lid
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — rain
  22. cold — not warm
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. mine — an explosive

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