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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rash — hasty
  3. shower — to wash
  4. net — after costs
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. net — in sport
  7. spring — the season
  8. kid — to tease
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. kid — child
  13. net — for catching
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. spring — of water
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. vault — a safe
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. shower — rain
  23. rash — a series
  24. wave — of the sea

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