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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 116 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: rush · cold · fan · shower · squash · track · key · ball

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. track — to keep track
  5. squash — the sport
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. track — a path
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. rush — hurry
  10. cold — an illness
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. key — the most important part
  15. key — for a lock
  16. squash — to crush
  17. ball — a great time
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. ball — a dance
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. shower — to wash
  22. key — in music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. shower — rain

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