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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: shower · wound · face · cold · firm · row · dip · bat

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. firm — a company
  8. face — to point toward
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. row — a line
  11. shower — rain
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wound — an injury
  14. firm — steady
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bat — the animal
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. cold — not warm
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. firm — decided

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