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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. shower — rain
  3. face — part of the head
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tube — a container
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — a practice
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. drill — the tool
  15. face — to confront
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. tube — the underground
  19. shower — to wash
  20. date — the fruit
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — the Cold War

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