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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: land · bark · rash · hide · shower · nail · cold · pitcher

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. cold — an illness
  4. land — to come down
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rash — a series
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cold — not warm
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. shower — rain
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. rash — hasty
  24. pitcher — a jug

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