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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fine — all right
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. squash — to crush
  8. tear — from crying
  9. spring — the season
  10. tear — from crying
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. tear — to rip
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. land — to come down
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fine — high quality
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. squash — the sport
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spring — of water

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