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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 · rash · perch

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

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cap — of ice
  4. court — of a king
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. shower — rain
  7. court — for sport
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — hurry
  16. cap — a lid
  17. shower — to wash
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rash — a series
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — an illness
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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