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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. shower — to wash
  3. staff — employees
  4. band — a music group
  5. chip — to eat
  6. staff — employees
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. shower — rain
  11. chip — for betting
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rush — hurry
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cold — not warm
  18. staff — a stick
  19. band — a ring
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. squash — to crush

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