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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: squash · face · rush · chest · drill · season · shower · cold

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. shower — rain
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. drill — a practice
  7. shower — to wash
  8. squash — the sport
  9. face — to confront
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rush — hurry
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cold — an illness
  17. squash — to crush
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — part of the head
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — in sport
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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