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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: bear · cold · coach · shower · date · vault

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — rain
  4. bear — the animal
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cold — not warm
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. bear — the animal
  14. vault — a safe
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. date — 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