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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. shower — rain
  4. mate — a partner
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. mate — to breed
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mate — a friend
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitch — completely
  11. net — after costs
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. net — in sport
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. net — for catching
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. mouse — for a computer

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