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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · rash · mouse · shower · squash · foot · content · date

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. foot — a measure
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — to crush
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. shower — to wash
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. rash — a series
  14. content — happy
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. shower — rain
  19. content — the amount
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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