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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: court · shower · drill · key · cold · snap · patient · cap

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cap — a lid
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. court — of law
  8. snap — to click
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. shower — to wash
  12. key — in music
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. drill — army training
  15. court — of a king
  16. cap — of ice
  17. shower — rain
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — the most important part
  20. cold — not warm
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. court — for sport

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