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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. wake — a trail
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — in a race
  7. ground — crushed
  8. land — to come down
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. shower — to wash
  13. tube — the underground
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tube — a container
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — for tennis

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