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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. season — in sport
  5. fine — all right
  6. fork — in a road
  7. season — of the year
  8. fine — high quality
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. game — a match
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — wild animals
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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