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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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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: stand · spell · prune · pit · shower · cold · nail · kid

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cold — an illness
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. spell — magic
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. spell — letters
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — in a race
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. prune — to trim
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. stand — to bear

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