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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. fine — all right
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. firm — steady
  9. perch — the fish
  10. firm — a company
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. track — to keep track
  14. firm — decided
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — not warm
  17. track — a path
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. ball — a dance
  21. fine — high quality
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. wind — moving air
  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