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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: kid · ground · cold · rash · rush · shower · bay · kick

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. shower — to wash
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. ground — a position
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kick — in football
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rash — a series
  19. shower — rain
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. ground — the earth
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. rush — hurry

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