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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. pit — in a race
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. game — a match
  6. cold — not warm
  7. ground — the earth
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ground — a position
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — to paddle
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. ground — crushed
  21. shower — rain
  22. rush — hurry
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cabinet — ministers

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