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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 116 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cold — not warm
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. scale — in music
  5. hand — help
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — an illness
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cap — a lid
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. scale — size or range
  16. shower — rain
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cap — a hat

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