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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chip · press · cold · fall · shower · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. chip — to eat
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cold — not warm
  6. shower — rain
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fall — the season
  9. shower — to wash
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cap — of ice
  12. press — to push
  13. chip — for betting
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — a publisher
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cap — a lid

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