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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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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: mouse · rest · wound · race · shower · press · wind · fine

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. race — the arms race
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — to push
  12. race — humankind
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rest — a break
  16. shower — to wash
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fine — high quality
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. shower — rain
  22. race — a contest
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wind — to turn a key

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