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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: shower · rash · pop · last · cold · mouse · perch · key

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. key — for a lock
  3. pop — to visit
  4. shower — to wash
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. key — the most important part
  10. last — finally
  11. pop — music
  12. last — to go on
  13. shower — rain
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. perch — the fish
  22. key — in music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — soda

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