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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. drill — army training
  8. bass — low music
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — not warm
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rest — a break
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cap — a hat
  16. degree — an amount
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bass — the fish
  22. rest — what's left
  23. degree — from a university
  24. shower — rain

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