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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pop — music
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. shower — rain
  7. wind — moving air
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bass — low music
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bass — the fish
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pop — to visit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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