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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 116 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: bat · stick · cold · stand · shower · last · band · dip

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bat — the animal
  4. last — final
  5. shower — rain
  6. band — a music group
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. last — to go on
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. band — a ring
  15. dip — to sink
  16. last — finally
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stand — to bear
  23. cold — not warm
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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