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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cue — a signal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cap — a lid
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cue — a hint
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. shower — to wash
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rest — a break
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cap — a hat
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cue — for pool
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cap — of ice
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. prune — the fruit

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