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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. track — to keep track
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. rock — a stone
  8. game — wild animals
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rock — music
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. stand — to bear
  16. track — a path
  17. cold — not warm
  18. row — a line
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. shower — to wash
  21. track — a song
  22. hand — help
  23. game — a match
  24. rock — to move gently

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