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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: mark · staff · cold · shower · rash · rush · ground · board

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. rush — hurry
  5. staff — employees
  6. shower — to wash
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — rain
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mark — a grade
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. ground — a position
  15. rash — hasty
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. rash — a series
  19. board — a committee
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. staff — employees
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. cold — the Cold War

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