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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: ground · saw · hide · bark · cold · fall · shower · bowl

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. saw — the tool
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. shower — rain
  9. bark — to shout
  10. ground — a position
  11. fall — the season
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cold — an illness
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bark — of a tree

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