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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 120 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: cap · fork · current · bay · cold · shower · march · wave

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — an illness
  5. current — of water
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. current — electric
  8. cap — of ice
  9. current — happening now
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. shower — rain
  12. fork — in a road
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — a lid
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. march — the month
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. shower — to wash
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. cold — the Cold War

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