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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: cold · court · plane · kid · band · charge · straw · shower

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. shower — rain
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. cold — an illness
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. court — for sport
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. court — of a king
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. kid — to tease
  16. charge — a price
  17. plane — a tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. court — of law
  20. shower — to wash
  21. band — a music group
  22. charge — electricity
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. charge — in control

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