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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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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: pit · snap · wound · scale · mouse · shower · mark · cold

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cold — an illness
  4. scale — in music
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mark — a grade
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — rain
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. snap — to click
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pit — in a race
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pit — a hole
  21. mark — a trace
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mouse — the animal

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