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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. current — happening now
  6. cold — not warm
  7. face — to point toward
  8. shower — rain
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. current — electric
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rest — what's left
  16. face — to confront
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. face — part of the head
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. current — of water
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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