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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: cold · fan · pound · rest · wind · shower · current · march

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. current — happening now
  3. cold — an illness
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. shower — to wash
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. shower — rain
  8. rest — what's left
  9. current — electric
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. current — of water
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. march — the month
  18. pound — a weight
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pound — to hit hard

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