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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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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: key · wind · shower · bound · foot · wake · cold · jam

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cold — an illness
  3. foot — a measure
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. key — the most important part
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wake — a trail
  8. key — in music
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. bound — obliged
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bound — certain
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. shower — to wash
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. key — for a lock
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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