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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.

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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: staff · lie · bowl · shower · wind · cold · track · fine

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. shower — to wash
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. fine — high quality
  7. track — a path
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. shower — rain
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. staff — a stick
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. staff — employees
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. staff — employees
  21. cold — not warm
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. lie — to recline

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