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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. band — a music group
  3. last — final
  4. hand — help
  5. last — finally
  6. hand — in cards
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. band — a ring
  12. field — farmland
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. press — a publisher
  16. shower — to wash
  17. last — to go on
  18. press — to push
  19. fine — all right
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. fine — high quality
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. press — newspapers

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