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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: cold · fall · racket · last · shower · board · wound · stem

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. board — to get on
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. last — finally
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. last — to go on
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. stem — to come from
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fall — to drop
  14. last — final
  15. shower — rain
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — the season
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. board — a committee
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fall — to drop
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. racket — a loud noise

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