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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. file — a document
  4. field — for sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — a subject
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. field — farmland
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. season — in sport
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. season — of the year
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. shower — rain
  17. cold — an illness
  18. shower — to wash
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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