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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: mine · rash · wound · cold · wave · snap · last · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rash — a series
  7. mine — for digging
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. snap — to click
  11. last — finally
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. last — final
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rash — hasty
  20. shower — rain
  21. last — to go on
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rash — on the skin

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