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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. club — for dancing
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rash — a series
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. club — a group
  10. rash — hasty
  11. march — the month
  12. club — for golf
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. spring — a coil
  16. pass — a permit
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. ball — a great time
  20. spring — the season
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — of water
  23. ball — a dance
  24. cold — not warm

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