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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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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: cold · fall · vault · pop · shower · bore · ground · lash

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. ground — the earth
  5. shower — rain
  6. bore — to tire
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ground — crushed
  9. fall — the season
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — to visit
  14. ground — a position
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. vault — a safe
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bore — to drill
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. fall — to drop

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