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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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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: rash · cold · scale · shower · band · land · staff · mate

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. scale — size or range
  3. cold — not warm
  4. scale — in music
  5. staff — employees
  6. land — ground
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. shower — rain
  10. mate — a partner
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. staff — employees
  13. shower — to wash
  14. land — to come down
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mate — a friend
  17. staff — a stick
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a ring
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. mate — to breed
  22. rash — hasty
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. land — a country

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