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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: wake · bowl · rock · firm · wound · shower · cold · ground

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. firm — steady
  3. shower — rain
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ground — the earth
  9. rock — a stone
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. rock — music
  14. firm — decided
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wake — a trail
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. ground — a position
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. shower — to wash
  24. cold — the Cold War

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