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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 120 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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — army training
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. shower — to wash
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. cold — not warm
  12. drill — a practice
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. land — to come down
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. ruler — for measuring

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