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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. shower — rain
  5. pound — a weight
  6. shower — to wash
  7. kid — child
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rush — hurry
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. file — a document
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. file — a tool
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. rush — to hurry

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