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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.

Make a worksheet

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: march · date · ruler · shower · mine · wind · season · tube

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. march — the month
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wind — moving air
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. date — the fruit
  14. march — the month
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tube — the underground
  18. mine — for digging
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. march — music
  23. tube — a container
  24. season — to add flavour

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