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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: shower · cold · degree · club · cabinet · stand

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. shower — rain
  3. club — for dancing
  4. shower — to wash
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. degree — from a university
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. stand — to bear
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. cold — not warm

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