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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: cap · cold · dip · court · rush · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. cap — a hat
  8. shower — rain
  9. court — of law
  10. cap — of ice
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. dip — to sink
  13. cap — a lid
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rush — hurry

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