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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: shower · cold · hide · bowl · pitcher · date · drill · current

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — an illness
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. drill — a practice
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. current — electric
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. date — the fruit
  15. current — happening now
  16. drill — army training
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. shower — rain
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. current — of water
  24. cold — not warm

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