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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. shower — to wash
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spell — letters
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — in sport
  7. last — to go on
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. last — finally
  10. cold — an illness
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — a partner
  15. wound — an injury
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. shower — rain
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. spell — magic
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. last — final
  24. mate — a friend

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