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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: shower · cold · sharp · field · staff · leaves · wind · mate

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. shower — rain
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. mate — to breed
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — to wash
  9. field — farmland
  10. staff — employees
  11. wind — moving air
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. field — for sport
  20. staff — a stick
  21. wind — moving air
  22. sharp — clever
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. staff — employees

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