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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. land — a country
  6. bear — the animal
  7. land — to come down
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. cell — a phone
  10. board — to get on
  11. march — music
  12. prune — to trim
  13. board — a committee
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bear — the animal
  18. land — ground
  19. cell — in biology
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. shower — to wash
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. shower — rain

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