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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. track — to keep track
  3. spring — of water
  4. shower — rain
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. press — a publisher
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cold — not warm
  9. row — a line
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. press — to push
  13. track — a song
  14. track — a path
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. cold — an illness
  17. press — newspapers
  18. spring — the season
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. spring — a coil
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — animal skin

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