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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: firm · shower · snap · fall · ball · game · cold · wound

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. firm — a company
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. firm — steady
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fall — the season
  17. shower — rain
  18. fall — to drop
  19. game — a match
  20. ball — a dance
  21. game — wild animals
  22. snap — to click
  23. fall — to drop
  24. firm — decided

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