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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: firm · game · plane · fall · stick · shower · cap · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. firm — steady
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fall — to drop
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. game — wild animals
  11. firm — a company
  12. cap — a lid
  13. plane — a tool
  14. fall — the season
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a hat
  17. game — a match
  18. firm — decided
  19. fall — to drop
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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