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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: tube · leaves · board · face · cold · spring · track · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. track — a path
  4. cold — an illness
  5. track — a song
  6. spring — the season
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — to confront
  9. track — to keep track
  10. shower — rain
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. board — a committee
  13. board — to get on
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. cold — not warm
  18. tube — the underground
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. spring — a coil
  22. tube — a container
  23. spring — of water
  24. face — part of the head

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