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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: shower · lash · cold · kid · wound · toast · swing · ruler

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. shower — to wash
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. toast — bread
  10. kid — child
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. swing — to play on
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. swing — in golf
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. swing — music
  24. ruler — for measuring

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