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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: rash · shower · cold · net · ball · leaves · mate · clip

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. leaves — of a tree
  2. mate — to breed
  3. net — for catching
  4. ball — a great time
  5. rash — hasty
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — in sport
  16. rash — a series
  17. mate — a partner
  18. clip — to cut
  19. shower — rain
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rash — on the skin
  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