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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 · jam · ground · tube · mate · cell · shower · mark

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cold — an illness
  6. shower — to wash
  7. mate — a friend
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. shower — rain
  12. tube — the underground
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mark — a grade
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cell — in biology
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mate — to breed
  21. tube — a container
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — crushed
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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